A Final Favor
by Throwing-Fire-Twice
Summary: Year or two after FFX. Auron is sent back, by the Fayth, for a final favor. But he is no longer a dream or unsent. He has one thing on his mind. Her. Rated 'T' for violence, maybe bumped up in the future. Next Chapter on the way!
1. Back, Again

Aight, this is my first chapter in this story, obviously. Let me know any glaring OOC/POV/sp/grammar errors, if there are any, who knows. But remember, love makes people do weird stuff, a little OOC, sometimes. And some of it is my interpretation of things, but let me know anyways. Read and review if you liked it or not, please.

For those who have read my other story, Lonliness Happens, Ya? This will quickly become related to it, but by no means do you have to read them both. But it would make me really really really happy if you all did.

Note: I don't own FFX, Spira, or the characters. But sometimes I like to think I do insert evil laugh

* * *

**Chapter 1: Back, Again.  
**

Mount Gagazet. The ancient, sacred mountain that had been the passing point of the most important times of my life. Tall, standing ever still against the furied backdrop of Bevelle and Zanarkand, as it had for countless thousands of years. The cold was not disturbing, even among the prevailing winds at the peak of the mountain. My red coat flailed against the winds, as I was lost in my thoughts.

_Back again. Not for reasons, this time. Not for reasons like last time. _

With one last look, towards Zanarkand, towards the Edge of the World, and I began down the mountain, towards civilization, towards the reasons that I had chosen to come home for a final time.

* * *

As I travelled down Gagazet, using the Summoner's Trail yet again, my mind was wandering again towards the reasons why I was back. Through all of my years, in Spira, in Zanarkand, and back in Spira again, I had finally found a reason to stay. If _she _would have me back, that is. I had betrayed _her _trust, and now that I had been given another chance, a third or fourth chance if I really thought about it, it was time for me to realize what I had actually had in front of me. But it wasn't really worth dwelling on it, I was back, and that was all that mattered.

I quieted my thoughts as I drew nearer to the home of the Ronso, near the base of Mount Gagazet. There, I was met by two Ronso, who I had met before.

"Biran and Yenke, it has been a while," I mused quietly, and the two Ronso looked at me like they saw a dead man. I was alive this time, I thought, and I smiled.

"Sir…Sir Auron?" the Ronso looked incredulously.

"Who else would it be?" I asked and laughed to myself. My own reappearance was startling, even to myself. I had wanted to come back, but I would have never thought they would listen to my pleas.

"Nice hair cut, Sir Auron. But come with us, Khimari see you," Biran said to me, and I nodded. I followed them up a side path, and entered the village of the Ronso. I had only visited ever twice, the Ronso were very protective of their homelands. And my haircut differed how?

I stopped and ran a hand through my hair, feeling the tresses but realizing they were shorter than it had been when I was sent. Like when I had first died all those years ago with Yunalesca. Just what had they done to me? I had asked to come back, not to change. I shrugged it off, and the Ronso in front of me stopped in front of a giant tent. Yenke held back a flap in the front, and beckoned for me to enter, as I did.

"Khimari, you look well," I said, and was amused at his reaction to my voice.

"Auron? Wha…" the Ronso said, at a loss for words for one of the few times in his entire life.

"I am back, for good this time I believe," I said, and the Ronso walked over, holding out his great big furry blue hand.

"Khimari happy. Need airship?" Khimari asked of me, and I shook my head 'no'.

"I must figure myself out, first. Do you know when the guardians and Yuna are all meeting up, again?" I asked of him, and the Ronso smiled. Most people wouldn't take it as a smile, with his fangs sticking out and him looking angry. But I knew, as I had known for many years, Khimari being the silent keeper of many of my secrets.

"I think I know. Wakka's birthday. All going to Besaid," Khimari said, flipping through some pages sitting on an extremely large desk. I smiled, noticing that he had become the leader of the Ronso. Many things to mend, with Yevon, with the people of Spira, but I knew if anyone could do it, the legendary guardian could.

"Thank you Khimari. I will be there, I promise," I said, another promise. My last life had been former promises, but these ones I could actually keep forever. I hoped.

"Auron," the Ronso said as I moved to exit the tent. "Fill jug with Ronso spirits, and stay safe this time," The Ronso said, and we both laughed. I enjoyed the nog that the Ronso made, strong and flavorful. I had talked about it with Khimari many times, usually when it was just us two guarding the camp as the rest slept. We didn't share too much in common, but the nog was one of them.

"Thank you Khimari, and I will be safe this time," I said, and left the tent. Biran led to a still, and I filled the ceramic jug at my waist. They might have brought me back, but the sure were not going to refill my nog jug.

I swigged the jug at my hip, swishing the nog around in my mouth. Deliciousness, at its greatest. One of the top three things I had missed, since I had been on the other side of the Farplane walls. The other two being my coat, and her. But now I had my nog, and they had been so kind as to replace my coat before placing me on the mountain. Just one big thing left to do.

* * *

"Ya hear that, kiddo?" I heard, from the front of the ship. I had been tinkering with some broken sand runners in a bay off the Bridge, but I ran up there to see what my dad was talking about.

"What's up, pops?" I asked, rubbing my nose with the back of my hand. Grease covered my finger tips, but the sweat was running down my face.

"Yuna just sent me a message. Tidus is back!" Cid exclaimed excitedly. A wave of happiness crossed over me, Yunie could finally stop moping now!

"Yay! Where is he at?"

"He's in Bevelle, now. Wandered out of Macalania towards Bevelle last night. He is doing okay, though," Dad said, and I nodded.

"When are we going to see him?" I asked excitedly, but a pit had started gnawing its way into my stomach.

"When we pick up Yuna, to bring her to Gagazet of course. Its only in three days, and we have to get those sand runners working," Dad said, and I laughed loudly. No big deal, I guess. Tidus wasn't already dead, wasn't like _he_ was coming back. Despite those thoughts, the familiar pang of grievance wracked its way through my stomach, like it did every time I thought of _him_.

"Okay, well, I'm going to go back to work, then," I said chipper, and got back into my hangar. These damn machina weren't going to fix themselves, you know. Didn't want dad to see me like how I knew I would end up anyways.

As I worked, my mouth spewed curses, mixed Spiran and Al Bhed. It was a mechanic thing, always had been. Most people thought it was crude, for a female young adult to speak like that, but the Al Bhed understood. The cursing, say-whats-on-your-mind, Al Bhed princess was understood with them, and picked up on their mannerisms. It was just how I was. I just smiled, as I tightened a bolt on the a-frame of the sand runner I was working on, finishing the first of many that needed to be fixed.

I don't know how much time had passed, but I had fixed three more sand runners, to the point of them running again at least. I looked up, and pops was standing above me, watching me work.

"How long you been there, pops?" I asked, tightening that last bolt on another sand runner.

"A while, you seem pretty focused. You are doin a good job, kiddo. Now tell me what's on your mind," Dad said, and sat on top the sand runner I was working on. He always knew, when I had a problem. But he hadn't approved of my decisions with _him_ before, why would he now?

"Tidus is back, that's all. I'm glad Yunie will be happy again," I said, and smiled weakly. Dad saw through it right away, but just smiled.

"I know it's hard, kiddo. I think about yer ma like that all the time," he said, and his smile weakened. We had both cried, after mom died. But he hardened up like a rock, while I just hid behind my energy, like a shield. But I knew now what he had been feeling, at least some part of it.

"I'm sorry, I just need to let it go," I said, and felt tears creeping into my eyes. I was almost 18 now. Crying shouldn't happen with me anymore. I've been an adult, at least by the accounts of the Al Bhed, for four years already. So why did this bother me so much still?

"Let it go? Never said that. Just need to remember the good times, not the bad," dad said, and I smiled. I had tried to do that, and I do remember the good times, but I wanted to remember it all. His Masamune sat in a glass case dad had built me, next to my bed. His coat was always across the back of a chair in my room. It didn't smell like _him_ anymore so much, but it still meant something. Better to love than lost, her aunt always told her. But I didn't know exactly what she had meant, I just kind of wanted to be with him now, like always.

"Okay pops! I'm gonna hop in the shower now!" I said, letting my energy retake over my emotions. No need to worry about anything now, I could think about it later when I was alone. No need to drag everyone else down with me. That's kind of how it's always been, since mom passed away. It helped a lot, while I was on the pilgrimage for everybody. The only other person who acknowledged that she lived in a glass house. She had been the clown and the energy driving the group, for as long as she had lasted. They repaid the favor in the Thunder Plain, but…that was where _he_ seemed to fall for _me_.

I washed the grease off my hands before stripping down to the suit the fayth had given me, and stepped under the grand wave of warm water. Most folks didn't have running water, but the ship did. The ship had everything nobody else had, better than a house on most accounts. I finished up in the shower quickly, not wanting to run out of hot water, and toweled off. I was far more tired than I had thought, those sand runners weren't being very cooperative while I was working on them, that's for sure. I put on a much too large t-shirt and a pair of shorts, and climbed into bed.

I had trouble falling asleep, looking at his coat. Sometimes I just wouldn't sleep, just stare at that coat and sword for hours on end. Pops had threatened to have them removed, said it was unhealthy to dwell on the past like that, but he really didn't understand. I was still so young, people didn't think it was possible for me to fall in love. But I did, and I know that now more so than I ever did back then, and I knew it back then as well. He was so reluctant to love me back, and I know now why.

He finally did, he told me, right before we entered Sin. I had been trying so hard for him, doing everything I could to prove to him it wasn't just some stupid crush. And he had known all along. He had known that it wasn't a crush, but he told me that I couldn't have the one thing I wanted more than anything else. And I know why, now. He wasn't really alive, in a sense. I knew he was unsent for a long time, ever since he refused to enter the Farplane in Guadosalam, but I didn't say anything. He felt real to me; tight arms that helped me fall asleep when I was scared, strong hands to hold me close, and the ever present soft touch of his lips from the one kiss we had shared. He was real, to me. And he always would be.

* * *

_Rikku…_

The voice whispered. It was unlike anything I had ever heard. I looked around, and I wasn't in my bed anymore.

_Rikku…_

"What?" I asked, my voice shaky, seeming distant.

_Do you truly care for him, like you say you do?_

"Of course I do!" I said confidently. It was the one thing I knew for sure.

_For letting us rest, thank you. We sleep now, even as we speak, here in the Farplane at last. But the Farplane is not for all. As our final thank you, to you seven, we are granting one wish before we depart forever. We are not staying in the Farplane, but going beyond, where we will never wake again. But, your wish has been granted, as has his._

"What do you mean?" I asked the voice. Was this all a dream? It felt real, but were the Fayth actually talking to me? I thought they were gone already, nothing gets out of the Farplane, no matter how much I wanted somebody to.

_We hear the doubt in your mind, young guardian. But fear not, he is back, as he should be. Take care, and thank you._

"Wait, what?" I asked, but the voices were no more.

I sat up quickly, and I was in my room. What had just happened? The Fayth appearing in dreams was a sign, they didn't lie. Or so the books said. I had read them all, in Guadosalam, after his disappearance. Everything I could on trying to contact him again. I refused to enter the Farplane myself, not wanting to see all that I had lost, but I tried every other way I could to try and get him back, to no avail. But I did read that the Fayth appeared in many people's dreams, and everything the Fayth mentioned, happened. Whether it be guidance for peace or war. But I had never heard of it granting wishes.

I laid down my pounding head, it felt like cannon fire inside of it. It was tearing me up inside, but I just stared at the coat, tears welling up in my eyes. It had been so long, since I had seen him. Too long. I would give anything to have him back, him holding me, telling me that nothing would be wrong. But that would never happen; I just had the memories of him to hold dear. Memories of him, good and bad, were all that mattered.

* * *

"Sir…Sir Auron?" a voice said, and I looked at the voice that had called my name. I must look different, if people were stumbling over it like that. Or people just hadn't seen me in a while, who knew.

"Hello?" I asked, not knowing or remembering this woman's name. She was aboard a giant yellow chocobo, who looked at me with squinting black eyes. Chocobo's had never been…fond of me. Maybe it was my attitude, or my dislike of giant birds.

"Wow, it really is you. I don't know if you remember me, but on your pilgrimage, I gave you Chocobo's to use," the woman said, and I smiled. The memories poured back in. Tidus racing this woman for three days, to win a sigil. Three whole days wasted, on a stupid bird race. But it was three more days for me to stay with _her, _so I couldn't complain about that.

"I do remember you as a person, but I do not remember names," I said, being honest. Too many people knew me, it was impossible to remember names.

"My name is Isabela, if it matters at all. I was just wondering if you needed a Chocobo?" the lady asked, and my face curved into an evil smile. I hated these damn birds, but they did move fast.

"I would be honored, Isabela. If you have one to spare, that is. I have no gil at the moment to pay you, however," I told her, and she just smiled.

"No problem, just walk with me a little bit over that way, and we'll have you up and going in no time!" she exclaimed, and I walked silently behind her. Great……damn birds. They would end me someday, if I let them. But they did taste good. I smiled evilly at the last thought I had.

Soon after, I was moving at a much faster pace, albeit a little more concave than I would have hoped. But it still beat walking any day, especially across the Calm Lands. And I didn't have a weapon, either. Just my nog and a chocobo, and my jacket. I reached inside the pocket of my jacket, and felt my black sunglasses in an inside pocket. It had seemed weird without them, but I had just realized. I slipped them on, and the horizon dimmed to a bearable level. Much better.

I rested the Chocobo every couple of hours, and the bird would go nuts if it could find itself some gysahl greens, and then continued onward. It was important for me to stay on the Chocobo, however, because the fiends would strike me on sight if not for the bird. So maybe I had to give them a little slack, eventually.

I was on my way to Bevelle, for many reasons. One of which would be to see everyone I could. Bevelle was likely a common destination for Yuna, at least, and probably Tidus if he had come back like he was supposed to. My attitude was far less grim than it had been before, I realized. All of this Chocobo riding was making me think, and I smiled at myself. I no longer felt like a wall of determination, making sure my pyreflies didn't escape. No, now I was as human as the rest, and even though I would never understand it, I was going to live this life the way I should.

The Chocobo continued onwards to Bevelle, as if it had a mind of its own. I spent all of my time on the back of that bird, even when I was sleeping. As long as it could rest to drink some water and eat some greens, it would keep running until it almost stumbled into sleep. Then I would climb down, and the bird would walk around until it found the grass it was looking for. Then it would look happy and energetic again, and I would reboard the bird. The Chocobos are loyal like that sometimes. Still didn't make me happy to ride one, the last three I had ridden had required healing from the summoners I had been protecting, not for the bird, but for me. But maybe my change in attitude made the bird less aggressive. Or maybe I just got lucky, I thought.

I thought about how good of time I was making, trying to remember how far it was to Bevelle. At this pace, I would be in Bevelle in two days, maximum. And then I might be able to see _her_, if she would have me back. If she didn't, I would…I would… I didn't know how to finish that thought. There wouldn't be anything else for me to be here, and they might just send me back. But if she didn't want me here, then I would go back, after I finished what they had sent me to do, no problem.

* * *

_"Do you really need to go back, that badly?" a group of Fayth asked me, and I nodded. It was the one thing I was sure of._

_"We can send you back, permanently. In exchange for a favor, for us Fayth. The ones you see before you as Fayth have been sent, finally. After all these years, we are able to rest peacefully. But we still have family and friends dreaming, not of Zanarkand, but of other things of which we do not know. We want you to release them, all of them, in exchange for one thing," they said, and I nodded. I would give anything to go back, at this point. _

_"How many of you are there still?" I asked, and the small child with a purple hood smiled. I knew him as Bahamut, back before he was sent._

_"Nine. Nine of us sleep, in forgotten temples. These are places many have not seen in hundreds of years, and have been forgotten. If you release them, we will grant you one wish," the Fayth Bahamut said to me, and I made up my mind._

_"I will do this. My wish would be for me, and Tidus, to be sent back to the world of the living, permanently," I said, and they nodded._

_"You were going to be sent back anyways, and your favor shall be for Tidus. He shall be eternally grateful. To release the statues…" the Fayth spoke, and I listened, but barely. I was going back, and there was nothing that was on my mind but her. And I would do their favor and whatever else they asked to see her again._

_"Were you listening?" Bahamut asked me, and I shook my head 'no'. And he just laughed, like a child is supposed to._

_"You will see her soon enough, don't worry. But as I said, to release us, destroy the statues of the fayth in their temples, and they will be forced to stop dreaming. This is not our world anymore, and they should no longer be there. But be careful, they will not take kindly to their own fate," Bahamut said, and I nodded. I fought and beat Sin, a Fayth is no problem. I felt as cocky as I did when I joined the temple guards, and then the monks. Undefeatable again._

_"Thank you, Bahamut. And all of you," the eight of them nodded at me, and disappeared. And then I woke up on Mount Gagazet, human again._

* * *

I awoke suddenly, the Chocobo stopping, probably for one of its short rests that it took. I didn't mind, I was making phenomenal time. I climbed off the Chocobo, and it didn't wander far from me. It seemed to have enjoyed my company, or something, because it wasn't like the others I had ridden.

The few I had ridden in the Calm Lands tore my arms into ribbons, and the one I had ridden on the Highroad actually tried to gore me with its talons. But this one was…much happier. And praise be to whatever power who gave this actually docile bird to me.

Bevelle held many things I needed to figure out. One being if _she_ cared anymore, but the rest being held in the Library of St. Bayla. I needed to figure out where these other temples are, or where they had been, at some point. During my training as a monk, there always were rumors of there being seventeen aeons, but only five mattered to Yevon, the five who had stayed 'faithful'. And that they were on the quickest path to Zanarkand, of course. The church had always tried to be efficient about their personal killing sprees.

I smiled, remembering how naïve I had been about the Church, ignoring the faults that were blatantly obvious to us monks. All those issues, all those pointless battles. Yet still I stayed, until that damned Braska threw it all away. Braska, damn I missed that man. The only one who could pull me out of that church rut, and look at me now. Doing missions for the Fayth and chasing after his niece, what would he think of me now?

I looked at the Chocobo, who was trotting back towards me now, its gullet obviously satiated. It knelt down, and I climbed aboard once again. It took off at a decent speed again, and I slowly drank out of my jug, making sure not to spill any. Who knows how long it will be until I'm back on Gagazet to refill?

I just let my head drop back and laugh loudly. Things sure had changed, when my nog jug being full being a problem.

* * *

"Kiddo, you been asleep for half a day. Gotta wake up sometime, those sand runners ain't fixin themselves!" I heard, and the voice just laughed evilly.

"Mmrphmm," was the only sound I could make, rolling over to open my eyes and seeing my dad sit on the chair in my room.

"How ya feel?" dad asked me, and I just sat up in my bed, yawning. I did sleep well, that was for sure. Damn sand runners are hard work. My hands were a feeling a bit stiff, but I felt good.

"Good, pops. Now get out, so I can change back into my scrubs," I said, and he left laughing. I hated getting grease on my cool-awesome-amazing wardrobe, so I always wore a zip up suit up to my neck when I was working on machina. Just the way I was, I guess. Good clothes were hard to come by.

I yawned again after zipping up my suit, and strolled from my room to the garage. So many machines left! I tried starting up the ones I had fixed before, and was delighted to hear them turn over and roar to life again. Well, three down, a bajillion to go, I guess. At least I was getting some help today.

Two Al Bhed boys, a little younger than me, had offered their hands at helping me. I knew they just all wanted to get closer to me, but the help was nice. And knowing I was wanted was nice, too. But…this was as close as anyone else was getting to me. Auron was all I had needed, even for that little bit of time, and I was damned if anyone was taking his place.

I must have let my thoughts control my actions, because I was cursing like a sailor when the two boys walked in, shock on their faces. Most people still didn't understand, it was a mechanics thing.

"Nyz lera zi mducc nefi dy wuq?" (How many we still have to fix?) one of the boys asked me. His name was…actually, I had no idea. Didn't really care either, too many names and I would just forget them again anyways.

"Ecc pod dnymi dnhii," (All but those three) I told them, and their shoulders slumped. They had gotten themselves into more than they bargained for, but I just smiled. They would be too tired to care in a couple of hours. And that made me smile. I always like just hours upon hours of machina, dedicated like very few were, and I was the best. I was still amazed they got the airship running so fast after I had left. I only worked on it for a few weeks before the Yuna-snatching-plan had come about.

We worked in silence, the only sounds were the asking for other wrenches, and the swearing. Most of the cursing was me, but the boys joined in, realizing that when with Machina, I was just one of the guys.

After a few hours, I stopped and told them it was break time. Time to grab a bite to eat and talk to pops. I walked quickly, saying 'hi' to everyone I crossed paths with, to the cafeteria. I grabbed a pair of elderberry sandwiches, and continued my walk to the bridge. Pops was sitting there in his chair, working with the sphere oscillo-finder furiously.

"What's up pops?" I asked, plopping down in a chair next to him, trying to figure out what he was doing. He never used the thing except to communicate with other people.

"You ain't never gonna believe this. Message from Khimari. Didn't think he would ever use the damn thing we gave him, but he did. Look at the message," he said, moving out of his seat so I could take his place.

To: Rikku

From: Khimari

Subject: Sighting

None of this looked interesting, yeah, neither me or dad thought that Khimari would ever use his communicator we gave him, but whatever. I read the next few lines, and my stomach tightened into a knot, and I almost spewed my already eaten sandwich all over the screen.

Message: Khimari see Auron. No smell like fiend anymore. Tell Rikku.

"A…Auron?" I choked, tears quickly filling my eyes. There was…no way he could come back. I had spent months in Guadosalam reading, and learned that he couldn't ever come back. It felt like a giant scab the size of my torso had been ripped open again, and I couldn't understand why.

"Kiddo?" dad said, his arm draping around me. I suddenly felt light headed, and I slithered out of pops arms like a jelly flan, and bounced off the floor. I didn't feel it though, I wasn't there anymore. And that's all I remember.

* * *

A day or so, and I would be in Bevelle, finally. Hopefully I still had some sway, or I might not even be able to access the library. People weren't allowed in without clearance of some sort, and I had been disowned by the church, what…almost thirteen years ago? I laughed at that, the bird turning back to look at me as it ran, as if I had lost my mind. But I would get in, not too much of a problem. I could probably get a sword from the Monk's barracks if I needed to get in covertly. The city was always deemed a stronghold, but I knew my way around.

Bevelle was a city draped in mystery and politics, and was riddled with secret passageways and doors very few knew of and even less used. And now, probably were lost forever. Used in the days when secrecy was much more important, those passageways were used by messengers, or so the texts told us. They weren't used much even when I lived there. The only reason I knew them was because Kinoc and I had spent many of our free days wandering the city, and sneaking women and booze back. Back when that was all that mattered.

But getting in wasn't one my worries. My only worry would be if I saw the airship docked over Bevelle, or ran into people that knew me. I mean, people recognized my coat and I, and rumors would always spread. But I would be in and out of Bevelle before too many people tried to stop me. But back in those days, you always just _silenced _those who got in the way. I didn't want to kill innocents any longer. I no longer felt the need to stay in utter secrecy, like I had before. I was borderline evil, back in those days. But those are thoughts for another day, maybe another life. Right now, I had to focus on what I had to do.

As I had been lost in my thoughts, the Chocobo paced ever onwards towards Bevelle, and when I came out of my thoughts, it was several hours later in the day. It was like I had fallen asleep. We came into a clearing, exiting the bit of forest we had been travelling, and in the far, far off distance I could see the spire crowing the peak of Bevelle. It was still many hours of travelling away, maybe twelve, but this was the field Bevelle had created to see as far as it could have, all those years ago. The home stretch, so to speak.

I dismounted the bird, and he pecked around in the grasses, turning its beak up at certain patches and chowing down at others. I could never tell the difference in the grasses, but I had never needed to. The birds hated me, and I them, so needing to know which ones they liked had never been a priority.

I sat down on the grass, swigging out of my jug occasionally. It was really the only thing I had to do until I got to Bevelle. Then I could find some food to accompany this fine liquor, and the answers to the questions I had. I watched the Chocobo exclaim, and came running back to me. I looked at it, puzzled. Could never understand them, either. But it nuzzled me, and then grabbed the shoulder of my coat and drug me to my feet.

"What do you want?" I asked coldy, staring the bird down. It seemed to cower before me, as all did with the gaze I had perfected over the years. Yet it still pushed me towards where it had been. I let myself be pushed, albeit a little hesitantly. Maybe the bird had been nice so far so it could find a place to bury me after it had killed me.

It stopped pushing, and exclaimed with a 'wark' its achievement. I looked down, and buried in the grasses was a katana, much similar to the one I had brought to Zanarkand with me the first time. I hefted it by the handle, and it felt right in my hands. Where in the world had this come from?

I thought about where the blade had come from, trying to discern its history here on the far outskirts of the Bevelle Field. This was cleared for a battle, between Zanarkand and Bevelle all those years ago, but things from then were long since buried and forgotten. But then I thought about the more recent military activities of Bevelle. I remembered hearing about the slaughter of Guado on the edge of this forest, as the Guado tried to defend their homeland against the impossibly strong forces of the Church. It must be a remnant of that, I thought. The blade was clean of marks or defects, however. It wasn't even used.

I swung the blade, like I had for countless years, and my abilities, albeit a bit rusty, still came back to me. Through all of my forms, the blade danced. My only watcher was the bird, who just looked at me a few times and moved a little bit farther back from where I stood. I again sat in the grass, the blade sitting in front of me. Good luck, I guess. I had needed a sword anyways, and the bird seemed happy with itself, even if it was scared of me. And it hadn't killed me, yet another sign that Lady Luck was smiling upon me. And then it hit me.

Back at the academy, when we had learned of the rumors of all the other temples, we had learned that things like Lady Luck had been real at one point. Or real enough I guess. One temple, long forgotten, had been an aeon of luck, or chance really. It was all myth and legend, and the professor had spoken about some students who had never returned after they went to pray at that lost temple for help during their final examinations. The class had laughed, including me. But maybe, it wasn't just luck. Maybe Lady Luck knew it was finally time for her to sleep soon?

"Insanity, Auron. Just plain insanity," I said to myself, and laughed again. The bird was actually afraid now, with me talking to myself and laughing as well.

"It's alright, my friend. Insanity has not come to me, yet," I said, and laughed again. I petted the birds face when I neared it, and its cheeriness returned. I clipped the sword once again onto my back, like I had all those years. The coat have clips sewed in for a reason, of course. I remounted the bird, who seemed full and happy again. He took off at a faster pace than before, its energy levels higher after helping his master, it seemed.

I lost myself in the thoughts about Lady Luck, and where ever the hell she could be.

"A wild Chocobo chase, for sure," I mused, and watched as Bevelle crept slowly into view. Very very slowly, I might add.

* * *

"Ugg, quit that!" I yelled, after being hit in the face with a cup of water.

"Sorry Rikku, dad told…me too," I heard, the voice belonging to Brother.

"It's okay," I said, opening my eyes. I was laying on the floor of the bridge, in a very uncomfortable position. "Why was I laying on the floor, you worthless…" I started to yell, and dad stopped me.

"You've been out for a couple of hours. Kicked the mnud out of Brother when he tried to move you. Damn Khimari…" dad said, and shook his head in disapproval.

"Sorry Brother," I said. We had all been speaking Spiran on the ship for the most part, to help everyone learn the language faster. Brother including, and his had increased beautifully, if I do say so myself. How else was he going to get a pretty brunette Spriran girl like he so desired?

I smiled a little at my last thought, and saw my sandwich on the shelf that rimmed the sphere oscillo-finder. I went to grab it, and looked at the screen. I felt myself go wobbly again, reading the phrase over and over again.

"Khimari…saw Auron?" I said quietly, and again I fell, smashing my head on the shelf my sandwich was on. I felt the pain, and then darkness.

* * *

Five hours had passed, and I had landed myself on a road straight for the main gates to Bevelle. The Chocobo was like a bullet. A fast, yellow, feathered, frenzied bullet. I smiled at the thought of my arrival. Nobody around probably remembered my loathe for the creatures, but I felt myself getting rather attached to this one.

I thought of the good old days, when Kinoc and I snuck out for booze, and would come back with women. We woke up the entire barracks, and more people joined us every night for our excursions into the city life of Bevelle. The city was pretty stuck up, compared to the attitude held down south. Probably the Church's influence on that. But at night, it was still easy to find bars with booze flowing and women abound. And women loved a man in uniform, or so they said. Loved for at least a night.

I laughed a little again at that last thought. Absurd, really, thinking about all those times. Kinoc was dead now, I had been dead for a while at least. And I already had my woman. The only one that mattered.

My thoughts carried me as the Chocobo did, ever closer to the gates. We weren't alone on the road, but the bird just swung into the brush on the side and kept running at a bullet's pace, leaving people gawking at us in the dust. Not every day you see a legendary guardian who has been missing for almost two years speeding along on a yellow streak of light. I smiled, and the bird started to slow.

Without my thoughts, this journey would have been much longer. And I would have realized the growing pit of hunger in my stomach. As an unsent, eating was a formality, really. You felt hunger for a while, and the feeling passed into nothingness. It isn't like I could starve to death, and die again. But I ate to keep up my façade as a real person to the group. But I was no longer an unsent, and the hunger made my stomach growl for nourishment.

The Chocobo stopped at the stable, and I dismounted. My legs and back felt like they had been stomped by a shoopuf, but the feeling would pass. I wasn't THAT old, really. At least that's what _she_ always told me. I stretched a bit, relieving cramped muscles, as the Chocobo hopped the five foot fence into the pen.

I walked to the fence, and the bird came running.

"I'll be back for you. I'll need your help again," I told it, and its black beady eyes seemed to glow with happiness, as if it had understood. No use in letting a good thing pass, they say. I walked the last half mile to the gate, and found it wide open. In the days of the church that never happened. Locked shut, and only opened for those deemed worthy back in the good old days. There were guards, in different uniforms than they had once been, carrying guns.

Looked as if Machina was more a way of life, now. I approached the gates, and the guards stopped me.

"Sir…Sir Auron? You are really back?" the guard asked me, and I nodded. The coat, a sword strapped to my back, and my sunglasses. That was all people needed to know it was me.

"Can you suggest a good place for food?" I asked, and the guard beamed. Well, at least I wouldn't have a problem getting in. Staying quiet, however, would prove to be a much more difficult task.

"Yumish' Bar has pretty decent food for your gil," the guard said, and I nodded. I would work out a form of payment once I was inside. Once famous, gil wasn't really needed anymore. I had found this out in the many trips I had taken inside Bevelle after Braska had brought the Calm.

"Thank you," was all I said, and strode up the walkway. I kept my swagger that I had had for years, and I could hear the guards behind me talking hurriedly. Seems I wouldn't be quiet for long. Long enough, though. I strode beneath the buildings of Bevelle, and began my plans for dispatching the aeons forever.

* * *

"Grumphh!" I exclaimed, as yet again another glass of water splashed into my face. Brother's face was standing over me, a fear in his eyes, laughter crossing his face. I just looked crossly at his face, and his laughter turned to pain as my foot connected quickly with his groin. He joined me on the floor in short order, making dad laugh at the both of us.

"Would you two stop it? We are in Bevelle in an hour," Dad said, and I climbed off the floor. Brother just rolled on the ground, clutching his groin and cursing in Al Bhed. I hopped over to him to where dad stood on the bridge, looking out the giant window. I saw the city in the distance, and nodded.

"Sorry about that, dad," I said sheepishly, knowing I had embarrassed myself.

"No problem. If he is back, then you can stop moping. And I can't beat the mnud yod yw nul," (shit out of him) dad said, and laughed. He always turned to Al Bhed to curse, and I found it hilarious.

"I suppose," I said, and walked out of the room. I had been passed out twice, a couple of hours each time. They would leave me laying there on the bride, stupid meanies. I went back to my room, and sat on my bed. I hadn't finished any of the sand runners today. And we made better time to Bevelle than I thought we would. Hopefully those two finished something without me, or dad wouldn't be too happy with me. As I laid there, my gaze went from coat to sword to coat again.

Are you actually back? Can I give these back? You better be, or I will kick Khimari so hard he feels it from tail to horn.


	2. Bevellian Memories

So I finally like this chapter, I think. Auron is an Onion, too many layers :P But anyways, I love the reviews I got, and I'm always going to beg for more. I'm glad so many people like it!! Mostly AU, maybe some love stricken OOC (it isn't too bad I don't think), and all awesomeness. Thanks for reading, keep the reviews up!!

Note: Like I always say, I never owned FFX, I never will, and I will always want to.

* * *

**Chapter 2: Bevellian Memories**

_**Auron**_

I had finally eaten, and it was probably the best meal in my life. Things tasted so much better, smelled phenomenal, and I had a new found fondness for food. Ten years being dead would do that to a person, I suppose. I had gotten it for free, I didn't even have to ask. They wouldn't have let me paid, if I had the money to do so. I would pay them back, once I had gil in my pocket.

I walked down side streets in Bevelle, avoiding busy thoroughfares. No need to announce my arrival, I suppose. The city had always been huge, to me. Zanarkand had been bigger, of course, but the architecture here was rivaled by none in Spira. Ancient spires all of stone rose everywhere, flanked by large buildings and many arches. Just like I remembered. It hadn't changed in all the time I had been here, as I suppose it hadn't in hundreds of years.

The streets narrowed as I approached my destination, a mere three quarters of a mile from where I had eaten. The city always seemed so large, but wasn't nearly as large as I made it to be in my mind. Hundreds of thousands dwelt here once, before the Machina Wars, but now there couldn't be more than a single hundred thousand. Still the most populous city in Spira, without a doubt.

I walked along the chapel walls, looking for the entrance I wanted to use. The chapel took up much of the interior of the city, with all of the barracks, chow halls, classrooms, and quarters of all military personnel and important people in the city within. The largest building in Spira, adorned with towers and shining with brilliance. But with my disregard and hate of Yevon came my unimpressive attitude towards the massive uselessness of this building.

I looked towards the sky, the sun shining brightly every once in a while, but it was usually overcast with clouds and the like. I returned to my search of the door that would let me in, and suddenly found myself upon it. A wooden door, kind of randomly hidden behind a house. The door Kinoc and I exited and entered many nights on our escapades. It had never been guarded, most people acknowledged its existence but very few knew where it could go. I pulled hard, and the door slowly creaked open to reveal a lighted hallway. They hadn't left it to rot, at least.

Maybe it was me being back in Bevelle, but my attitude had soured quickly on my walk to the chapel walls. Too many memories here, most of them pleasant. But the ones that were not pleasant overrode my feelings for the pleasant memories of this forsaken place. None of that mattered, I just needed to use the library and go about what I needed to do. My feelings and memories mattered only in my knowledge of how to get from point A to point B.

My memory guided me through the hallways, a complex maze of long passages and short, that would lead anywhere I needed them to. None led to the library, however, so somebody was bound to see me exit wherever I chose to do so. After around twenty minutes walking the hallways, I found an exit that would suffice, bringing me up into a small square on one side of the chapel. If I remembered right, it had once had a beautiful garden inside of it, and I had often sought the comforts of it. The garden had been my solace, when troubled by Yevon, or to study, and many other times I couldn't remember why.

I opened the door, and the natural light reflected off of the glasses, but I was not blinded by the light. Nobody was within the garden, and my heart panged lightly when I saw that it had faded over the years. I gave it a once over, and the garden was in disarray. Flowers grew where they wanted to, and many vines had started overgrowing the walls that had once kept them in. So sad, to see such a beautiful place in ruins. But that is what happens when power matters so much, I suppose.

I walked a brisk pace towards the inner workings of the Yevon Citadel. Not many were about, and most of the minding their own business to the point they didn't even notice my passing. Not that I wanted to be noticed, of course. I slipped through a side door, and found myself in the monastery. The place I had once lived.

Memories flew into my mind, and as fast as they did I banished them all. No use worrying about any of that, when I needed to get the job done and get back to _her_. That was all that mattered.

I walked from room to room, the monastery being empty like it usually was during daylight hours. People had other things to do, and no use watching over things that wouldn't be stolen. I strode out of a door on the monasteries other side, and found myself in a large room with too many people in it. The very classroom Kinoc and I had spent many hours in. Not the only classroom, but one of the more used ones. Smaller speeches and things were given here as well, and it was just my luck to have walked in on a day of class.

I closed the door quietly behind me, hoping I hadn't been seen. But of course, that wasn't the case.

"As I was saying before. The militarization of Bevelle was always…Sir Auron?" the voice on the podium said, and with that over a hundred pairs of eyes stared beadily at me. Just what I needed. The voice sounded familiar, a friend of mine from years past.

"Aye, Gerald," I said, recognizing the man. He had been one of the first to join me and Kinoc on our nightly scavenges, and he quickly became a friend. He had always been a good man, and knew as well as I the shortfalls of the Church. But he had thought it was better to help and hope than try to bring that crashing back down to earth. But he had never turned his back on me, even after I had been banished and imprisoned. He visited me regularly, laughing and telling me jokes.

"I haven't seen you in…?" Gerald said, walking towards me gracefully. He always had a sort of…quaint way of walking. It was interesting to watch, and Kinoc and I had made fun of him for it for a long time.

"Ten years, I think," I said, and he laughed. He approached me, and held his hand out. I shook it generously, and the rest of the beady eyes stayed silent.

"Yes, yes it has been. Care to join me? Lecture on the history of the militarization of Bevelle," he said. It had always been a pastime of ours, talking about Bevelle's military history. More interesting than average history, as it had always been to us.

"On my way to St. Bayla, actually," I said, and he laughed. I didn't really know why, but I had neither grin nor frown upon my face. My mood felt like it did when I left this place, sour and unpleasant. It reminded me slightly of how I felt when they had the gall to teach us Yevon's lies.

"Well then…speak for a little bit, then. And I'll go with you," Gerald said, and I finally smiled. It would be nice to speak to the man, for a while. He didn't need to know my plans, but after Kinoc had turned into a man I never knew and passed, I figured talking to an old friend wouldn't hurt.

"I will, address the crowd, I suppose," I said, and the crowd smiled. "What are we talking about, now?" I asked him, and he just smiled. He always smiled, even in the worst of times. An eternal optimist, probably my exact opposite.

"Anything you would like to speak about. These are new cadets, of course. Not warrior monks, any more. Just students, mind you," he said, and I smiled. I had spent many hours in this room learning of the ways to be a warrior monk. Many speeches, from everybody in the entire city, it seemed like.

I strode up the steps to the podium, and cleared my throat. I had never done this, nor did I have any inkling about what to speak about. I thought about the past, and how I had listened religiously to the preachings of then men in power at the time. I never thought I would be the one in this position.

"So…" I started, struggling for something to say. One young woman raised her hand. It was unheard of, back in the day, for a woman to grace these walls. All young men, devoted to giving their lives for the cause attended. Women belonged in the home, or so Yevon had said. But it was refreshing to see some of the changes the last two years had brought.

"Yes?" I asked, and the woman stood.

"Why…why did you get imprisoned?" she asked, and blushed. People had all known that I had been a guardian for Braska, and then for Yuna. But I was in line to be in the Bevellian Court before all of that. The court was a group of one hundred individuals selected to advise and oversee the workings of the city. The only people above them were maesters. It was always rumored that I would have been a maester one day. Looking back on that brought a slightly evil smile to my face.

"Well, it is truthfully a long story, if you wish to hear it," I said, and the crowd voiced their want of the story. It was truly a longer story, but it gave me something to talk about. Less preaching, more just story telling. And I had perfected the art of story-telling in Zanarkand, raising Tidus.

"I was once sitting in the seats you all sit in. Training to be a warrior monk. People had always said I was gifted in the way of Yevon, and in the field of combat. I rose quickly, becoming Commander of this very institute of education you attend. And I was to be married to a noble's daughter. I will not desecrate his name, for he was truly a good man. But…obviously I never did get married," I said, and the class laughed. Another thing that usually didn't happen in this room, laughter.

"Why didn't you get married, then?" a young man called out, and I found this turning into a question and answer session more than a lecture. Fine by me, easier to find something to say. And I could always lie. Yevon had been broken, so my bitter differences to the Church would not be frowned upon.

"I could say it just never worked out, but that really isn't the truth. Truth is, she was beautiful, smart, and could tell the most hilarious jokes. But it was arranged, neither of us wanted it, and we remained friends. When we both voiced our opinion on the marriage, nobody was happy. But I was not sent to prison for it, but I could have been," I said, and the crowd looked content. It was true, she had been all that and more. But she was a good friend, as well.

"So, why did you get sent to prison then?" the woman chimed back in.

"You all know of Braska, right?" I said, and they all nodded. Who didn't?

"I was friends with Braska, for a while before I was imprisoned. He was a higher ranking priest, but was as disheveled as I was with Yevon. He instigated a meeting, between the Bevellian Court, the Al Bhed, and the Guado, wanting peace. He did not necessarily want to spread the religion, of course, but he wanted peace. He always did," I said, remembering the man. He was the most pure hearted individual I had ever met, with the exception of Tidus. But Tidus was pure hearted because of ignorance, not choice. I smiled again while reflecting on the boys' stupidity.

"At this meeting, Braska met his wife. She was an Al Bhed, of course. I guess they had met several times before, but I hadn't known this beforehand. She was Cid's sister, a princess if you will. She looked just like High Summoner Yuna, albeit a bit taller. But the talks didn't go well and the Al Bhed got up to leave. Mika was not impressed, but Braska just strode forward to talk to him and the rest of the court," I said, remembering the incident fondly. He was the one that made me think of the problems in Yevon, and stand up to them. He also forced me through the last ten years of my life, but he was worth it.

"So what did he say?" Gerald asked and smiled. He knew the story as well as I, but he had always had a crazy sense of humor. He had been in attendance, as were many monks, like I was.

"He said, and I quote; The Al Bhed will leave in peace, and you will let them, Mika. And I will be going with them. As the Al Bhed started leaving, Braska took the hand of Bayla, who was Cid's sister, and the two of them were the last to leave. The thought of a high priest of Yevon even holding hands with the Al Bhed was absurd, at the time. And Mika ordered them both to be held," I said, and ran a hand through my hair. I had never been good at talks, even with small amounts of people. But I had these people on my every whim, and that was a good thing, I think.

"The monks overseeing the meeting went to grab the both of them, and I stood up. I strode slowly, everyone watching my every move, into the way of the oncoming Monks. They just looked at me dumbly, as I loosed the sword on my back and stood in their way. I refused to kill any of them, as they were almost my brothers, many I knew by name, but I fought for a long time. Hit them with the flat of the blade, I did. I knocked fifteen or twenty of them unconscious, before Mika ordered me taken instead. I gave up, dropping my sword, and thus, I was sent to prison. My refusal of marriage, and all that had transpired because of Braska, got my sent to the deepest cell they could put me in. I rotted in that cell for almost two years. I read, I ate, I slept. And that was all. Until Braska came back. And now you know the story of why I was imprisoned," I said finally, and the crowd cheered.

"Mika just threw you in jail?"

"What about your position for the Bevellian Court?"

"What happened to the lady you were supposed to marry?"

"What happened to Bayla?"

The questions were like an assault, and I realized I would be here much longer than I should have been. But Gerald just strode forward, and announced to the class.

"Sir Auron has important things to be doing. Class dismissed," he said, and the class just grumbled as they packed their things and left the room. More people than I wanted to know of my arrival in Bevelle. And young adults spread rumors like wildfire. Too much time on their hands like usual. I would have to research quickly.

"To the library," Gerald motioned, and we walked.

"Never thought of you as a teacher, Ger," I said, and he laughed.

"Neither did I, Auron. Never thought of you as a legendary guardian twice over," he said, and we shared a laugh. I wouldn't have believed it either, if I was told that before I was in prison.

"So how is Yevon?" I asked, and he stopped.

"You haven't heard? It's gone, for the most part. Don't really understand the new stuff like I did the old. But the college still teaches, and so I am here. But we aren't training for war anymore either," he said, and I laughed. War history was damn interesting, and had been one of our most frequent topics in classes. All in the training for a religious warrior, though.

"I figured as much, at least. Library still good, though?" I asked, and he nodded.

"One of the few things untouched, really. The secrets of the future are cloaked in the mysteries of the past, or so they say," he said, and I smiled. The library being the same would make things easier. With how much time I had spent there when I was younger, I knew the general vicinity of the books I needed. And I could just take them and leave, be gone as soon as I could.

"Ger, thanks for your help. But I can take it from here," I said, and he just smiled. That smile pissed me off so many times before. Eternal optimism had many faults, but Ger just smiled through it all, and that's what made me angry.

"Always the pragmatist. Always have been. Come back and talk sometime, when you have time, of course. You still owe me a drink," he said, and left me in front of the door to the library. I did owe him a drink. I had forgotten the debt, but obviously he hadn't. For all his visits to me in prison, his only request was a single drink at our favorite bar, called The Heron. And I would pay up this time.

I entered the library, which was surprisingly empty, and worked quickly to acquire the books I needed.

* * *

_**Rikku**_

"BEVELLE, FIVE MINUTES TO TOUCH DOWN!" the intercom screamed, and I got out of my bed. I changed into some decent clothes, and walked down to the bridge. My energy seemed to have left me, my care was gone. I probably looked like a mess, but I didn't really care. All I had was Auron on my mind. Could he really be back? And why didn't he call the airship if he saw Khimari? Why didn't he come straight back to me?

My thoughts hurt, and I tried hard to forget about them. I only turned them into a dull lull in the back of my mind, and I walked into the bridge. Dad and Brother were carefully lowering the airship to its designated landing point. All the cities in Spira had one now, so Yunie could get from place to place mostly. We were working on finding more airships, to find a quicker route of travel, but had only been mildly successful.

"Don't worry, kiddo. We'll find him if he's back," dad said, and I nodded. The thought gave me a little spring in my step, but not a whole lot. We came to Bevelle to get Yuna and Tidus. Yuna called as soon as Tidus got back, and we came running. It would be good to see him, anyways.

"And…we are docked," Cid said, and wrapped his shoulder around me, dragging me towards the exit ramp. It wasn't far from the bridge, and soon we were walking on pavement again. I saw Yunie standing there, waving and laughing. She hadn't laughed much since Tidus disappeared. She felt like I did, like an empty shell. But her life had come back now, and that thought made me feel even worse. Shoopuf foot after shoopuf foot just started crumpling me up into tiny little Rikku pancakes.

I walked towards her, and she pointed to my left. I turned just in time to see a blond haired punk tackle me and pick me up into the air, spinning me around in his embrace.

"Rikku!" was all Tidus said, and he laughed, glee evident in his voice. It even cheered me up some. I had missed him too, believe it or not. Through all his antics, ignorance, and absolutely horrifying cooking; I still missed him too.

"Tidus! I'm happy you are back!" I said as he set me down, and I hugged him back.

"What's wrong, Rikku? You don't seem so happy," Tidus said, falling into stride with me. Yunie and pops were talking, leaving us two to talk as well.

"It's just…" I started and stopped. Tidus had been my confessor all that time ago, when I didn't know what to do with Auron. Through his, well stupidity I guess, he saw what was happening. He knew more about everything than I did, at the time, but he still listened and gave what little advice he had for me.

"Auron's back too, you know. He is the only reason I am back," Tidus said quietly, and I smiled up at him.

"How do you know?" I asked, really wanting to know the answer.

"Cause I had to listen to him mope about you! It was so annoying," he said, and laughed. My heart caught in my throat, and happiness poured into me. He still cared!

"So how did you get back?" I asked, and he just shook his head and smiled.

"That is Auron's story. I don't really understand it, myself," Tidus said, and ran his hands through his blond locks. He always did that when he was just forgetting something. Nervous habit, I guess. I was so happy, though! He was back, he cared, he…HE WAS BACK!! My face hurt from its contorted smile, and my entire body was doing backflips with happiness. You have no idea, I can't even explain it. I could have flown, and I would have tried. But falling on pavement, hurts, you know?

"Do you know where he is?" I asked excitedly, and he just pointed at Yunie. I ran up to her, pushing pops out of the way. He laughed, and walked back to talk to Tidus. The whole group had become friends with Dad throughout our travels, and he was as happy as I was to see the blond haired freak.

"Oh Rikku," Yunie started, and I just hugged her as tears of joy sprung from her face. She had been so sad, crying herself to sleep for so many nights. She probably still did occasionally, like I did. But she wouldn't anymore, now that Tidus was back.

"Tidus said you know where Auron is?" I asked excitedly, and she nodded with as much excitement.

"See that building over there?" she pointed, to a taller building. I nodded, and she continued, "I guess he's in there. It was a rumor I heard from some students, but if he's here, he's there," she said, but I barely heard that last part. I had taken off in a dead sprint to that building. I ran down the raised causeway I was on, pausing to look over the side to the road below that led to the building. It was only fifteen or so feet, so I jumped, rolled forward, and started sprinting again. I could hear Yunie's and Pops screams for me to slow down, but I couldn't if I had even wanted to.

I ripped open the doors, and looked for him. I ran down the aisles of books, trying to catch a glimpse of him. I passed one, saw the red coat, and kept running. I turned back, and there he was, sitting by himself next to a stack of books. I crept up quietly as I could, but somehow he still heard me.

"Not polite to sneak up on people," he said in a stern voice, full of mystery. Same old Auron voice. But it made me angry, he shouldn't speak to me like that.

"Hey, you big meanie. It's not polite to ignore me either!" I yelled, and he jumped out of his seat, and turned to look at me. He still had his sunglasses on, his red coat, his jug of whatever he kept in there. He pulled the sunglasses off of his face, threw them on the chair, and picked me off the ground in the hug I had always dreamed about.

When he finally let me down, I hugged him back just as hard. Not like I could pick up his beefy butt, but I would have if I could have. He smelled the same as I remembered…no, better than I remembered. I looked up in his eyes, well, eye, and I saw tears his eyes get all teary. Now that wasn't normal Auron material.

"What…how?" Auron croaked, and hugged me tighter. Those strong hands, mine again.

"Yunie and Tidus called us, we came here, Yunie said you were here, so I ran here, and…" I said as fast as I could, but I was instantly quieted by his lips pressing against mine. Those glorious lips that I had dreamed about since the day I had first felt them on mine. The greatest feeling in the world, and I knew now that he was back. I felt giddy, or more than giddy. I can't even think of the word for that!

"Tidus is back? Good to hear," he said, and he pushed me away a bit. He gave me the once over, and hugged me again. Making sure I was real, or something.

"Are you back?" I asked, tears starting to stream down my face. I didn't think I could take it if he left again. I almost didn't the first time.

"Yes, I'm back, Rikku. For good, this time," he said, and my giddiness reached a new level. It was…indescribable, and that's the only way to explain it. Tears wracked my face, but they were of happiness, not of the sadness I had come to know.

"Why didn't…why didn't you come to me first?" I asked through my tears and sniffles.

"Because I came back to do a favor," he said, and stroked my hair softly. His hands were more than magical to me. But if he was back for a favor, how could he stay here?

"I don't…understand," I said, tears flowing unabatedly.

"You don't have to, but I'm not going anywhere once it's done," he said, and I realized I didn't want or care to understand. He wasn't leaving me, again.

"Good," was all I could say, never wanting to leave those arms again.

"Rikku, you were all I could think about, while I was…gone. I love you still," Auron said, and my teary self burst into a million pieces. I blubbered against him, my tears reaching new ends. It was as I had dreamed, every time. Maybe not in a library, I guess. It would have been way more romantic on the beach at sunset, or something. But hey, nobody is perfect!

"I still love you too, Auron" I said, and reached up to kiss him again. My gods those lips were amazing. My lips tingled long after he stopped kissing them, shooting electricity up and down my body.

He grabbed his sunglasses and slipped them into a pocket, reached down to grab an armful of books that looked really old and boring, and wrapped his other arm around my waist. And we walked out, back towards where pops and Yunie and Tidus were. I didn't care about anything anymore, except that he was back, and he wasn't leaving me again. We got closer, and the three of them waived, but dad had a serious grin on his face. The three of us were going to have to sit down and talk, again. And it didn't go over well the first time.

_"She is just a girl, Auron. You can't…" pops said, and looked extremely frustrated. Pops could take down anybody when he looked like that, even maybe Auron. Well, maybe not Auron, but he would give him a run for his gil, that's for sure._

They didn't get along really well. I mean, pops didn't know we were actually in love until after Sin, and then he felt bad. But I knew he was gonna be spitting fireballs at Auron, for what he did. For how badly he hurt me. I knew he was gonna be gone, but I didn't want to accept it, and then he was and my fantasy crashed down to the face of Spira. And pops had been there for it all.

Tidus and Yunie talked to Auron for a while, but I didn't really care what they were saying. I was just concentrated on Auron, smelling and feeling him again for the first time in what seemed like ages and ages and ages and ages. And it was good, almost too good.

"So, you comin with us, then?" pops asked him, and Auron looked for a moment, and then shook his head 'no'.

"I came back to do a favor, and then do whatever I wished for the rest of my life here. But I have to finish that, first," he said, and my heart dropped down real low, and then picked up again right back up. I could just go with him. I'm an adult, and there isn't a damn thing anyone can do about it!

"I'm going with!" I exclaimed, and pops looked at me angrily. He was scary when he was angry, so I just kind of hid behind Auron.

"Are you sure, Rikku? It won't be too safe, I can assure you that," Auron said softly, and I looked into his eyes. He looked…afraid. It wasn't something I associated with my known log of 'Auron Looks'.

"Then she ain't goin!" pops said, and pounded his foot.

"She can come with if she wants, Cid. It is her choice. She is an adult, is she not?" Auron said, and smiled wickedly. Another thing I hadn't seen before. So many new emotions, but now I had time to log them all!

"Fine," pops spat, acid in his voice. I hadn't seen him this angry since he found out Yunie was a summoner. "But if she gets hurt, I promise you that I will end you," pops said, and pounded his way up the ship. And I believed that he would. Pops didn't make promises unless he meant it, I knew that.

Yunie, Tidus, and Auron resumed talking, but my conscious was elsewhere. It didn't matter anymore, danger or not, I had Auron back. We walked towards the ship, and Auron stopped as Yunie and Tidus kept walking. I realized I would probably need some stuff, if we were leaving on dangerous scary journey, right?

"I'll go get some stuff quick," I said, and sprinted aboard the ship. I had five minutes, tops, before the ship started moving at least. I could still jump in seven or eight, and live at least. I ran down to my room, pulled out a duffel bag, and began throwing all kinds of stuff in it. Gil, lots of potions and stuff like that, and my claw and targe. Figure I might need it, he did have a sword. The sword!! I quickly grabbed it from its case, breaking the glass instead of fumbling with the locks. I didn't have time for that.

I had two minutes left at the most as I set the sword down on my bed and ran to get clothes. I threw in a few changes of clothing, socks, and…would I need fancy underwear? My face blushed with the thought of being…intimate with Auron. I just closed my eyes and grabbed a handful, and threw them all in the bag. I zipped it up, threw it over my shoulder, threw the sword over my other, and started running out.

The sword was a bit heavier than I thought, and I tripped making a corner towards the walkway down to Bevelle. And a hand was held out to help me up.

"Thanks," I mumbled, and gathered all my stuff up to start running again. I looked up, and Pops was there, the venom and anger gone from his face.

"Sorry I got angry, kiddo," he said, and hugged me. He never had been able to stay angry at me, even if he tried.

"It's okay, pops. I know this is what I want to do, and you know it too," I said, and he just smiled and nodded, a tear in his eye.

"I know, that's why I got so angry. But what I said before is true, if he does one thing bad to you, I will know," pops said, and I smiled and hugged him back. Ever the dramatisizer. Or whatever that word is. I never had a big word…thingy. A big vocabulary, there we go.

"Love ya, pops," I said, and began walking away.

"Love ya too kiddo," he said, and walked the other way. Al Bhed tradition wasn't to say good bye, because saying good bye often meant you wouldn't see each other again. But I knew I would, so I didn't have to say good bye. I quickened my pace back up, and Auron laughed at me as I walked back down to him. He just sat back and laughed at me, the big meanie. Wasn't my fault his damn sword weighed A TON, I mean, it was almost as tall as me!

"Any more room in that bag for some books?" he asked me quietly, and smiled at me. I missed his smile so much, I didn't even know.

"Only if you are carrying it," I said, and he nodded. The bag already weighed a lot, books would just make me feel like a Chocobo.

I put the books in my bag, and zipped it back up. He clipped the masamune onto his back, leaving the old one lie on the pavement. He hefted the bag onto his shoulder, bent down to kiss me on the lips, wrapped a hand around me, and we started the walk out of Bevelle. I had no idea where we were going, what we were doing, or why, but I didn't care. It would all be with him, and he wasn't going anywhere this time. Not without me.

* * *

**Let me know what you think, pretty pretty pweeeeease. The reviews really help my drive for this, but all my chapters end up being so long :P But I promise to update again before Friday if I get some nice new and shiny reviews :)**


	3. Felled by Chocobo

Hell all, welcome to Installment 3!! I'm shocked and extremely happy with the number of people reading this! Thanks all, and I hope you enjoy this. This is dedicated to Wyvren Wing and KathleenDee for all the reviews WOO! And to Wyvren Wing for making Kathleen sad because he beat her twice to reviewing this, haha. Anyways, enjoy, and review!

Note: I don't own FFX, or Squeenix, or anything like that. But I do wants a Chocobo, yup yup!

* * *

**Chapter 3: Felled by Chocobo**

I was standing just outside of the Chocobo Stable and Traveller's Outpost, minding my own business. All courtesy of Rin, I guess. He went nuts opening new shops after the Calm started. There were so many people on the road to and from Bevelle, it was shocking almost. Auron had left me outside to go inside and talk to the Chocobo Handler. It wasn't like it was cold or anything, with the sun shining brightly, but I didn't do the whole 'on the road alone' stuff well. I was always with a group going somewhere, or with pops in the ship. I thought about it, and I really didn't know why. I was strong, independent, and could beat the shoopuf stuffing out of anyone who thought otherwise. Maybe I just didn't like being alone, who knows.

Auron came back out looking unhappy, with another bag in his hands. I just gave him the gil I brought with so I had less to carry and because he didn't have any. How do you travel Spira without gil? Stupid men.

"What's wrong?" I asked, and he just smiled. His anger and unhappiness was suddenly gone, and I didn't really understand why, but I could get used to it. Unhappy Auron was a scary Auron.

"We only get one of these damned birds," he said, and I laughed. I remembered his antics in the Calm Lands, and the healing had to do after words. Yuna almost couldn't heal him, she couldn't concentrate because she couldn't stop laughing. He raised his fingers to his lips, and whistled the way Tidus always used to. I guess I never really thought that he would be able to do it, because it shocked me that he could. He did spend a lot of time with Tidus though.

"Who do you think taught Tidus?" he said and smiled wickedly. It was quickly becoming his favorite type of grin, and I had no idea where it came from. After he said that, a giant yellow ball of feathers and energy screamed into my view, and ran him over.

I laughed so hard I fell onto the ground, and the people on the road just stopped and stared. Legendary Guardian Auron, felled by friendly Chocobo.

"Damn bird. I will wring your neck!" he said coldly, like always used to before killing fiends, and the bird stopped instantly, lowering its head. Like it was obeying him, and I think it was. The Chocobo was cute, had a healthy coat, and looked extremely happy to see Auron. And that felt really strange for a Chocobo to miss him. It made my laugh pretty hard.

* * *

I sat there staring at the damned bird standing in front of me, a confused look crossing its beady eyes. It missed me, I suppose. I saw Rikku out of the corner of my eye, almost falling on the ground from laughter. The bird looked at her questioningly, and then strutted over to see what was so funny. Rikku pet the bird, and it cooed its approval.

I walked back into the ranch, and the handler looked at me in fear. I hadn't left on a happy note five minutes ago, what would make them think that changed.

"Y-Y-Y-Yes?" the young man stammered, fear rising through his body.

"Will one bird carry two people?" I asked, and he nodded. His fear dissipated a little bit and he could actually respond now.

"If there were more room, they could carry at least three of you if it needed to," he said, and I nodded.

"I need a tent, as well," I said, and he rushed around the counter and returned with a yellow bag. I peeled off some gil from the shrinking wallet, and walked back out to where Rikku was waiting with the Chocobo.

"Are we ready to go?" Rikku asked of me, and I nodded. She flashed me a smile, and I was at ease again. Something about that just set my head and heart to rest, and somehow made me happy. It wasn't an emotion I was extremely familiar with, but I could get used to if she was with me all of the time.

The Chocobo walked over to me, and the handler ran out to strap on the side bags I had asked for. It was still bareback, but a kind of belt strapped around the center of the bird with bags around it. I put many of the things I had bought within those bags, including the tent I had just got.

I patted the bird on the back, and it knelt down. I climbed over the back of it, sitting a bit farther back than I had on the way to Bevelle, and motioned Rikku to get on the bird. She sat in front of me, and the bird stood up and looked around, wondering where it should go.

"The Chocobo needs a name," Rikku said, and looked backwards, up at me.

"Then name it," I said. Naming a Chocobo, I had never dreamed of doing this. But it was loyal, it deserved that much.

"How about…Kelvin?" she said, and I smiled. She had named both airships as well; it wasn't very hard to see where she had got those names from.

"Sounds good," I said, thinking of where we should go. We were just astride the bird, not going anywhere, and the Chocobo was slowly but surely spinning in circles.

I thought about what I had read in the little time I had actually been able to in the Library, and supposedly, there were only two of the temples to the north of where we currently were. We would have to stop early every night so I could read more to actually learn where we were going, but we could get to the Calm Lands, at least. All things North of Bevelle connected to the Calm Lands.

I spurred Kelvin towards where I had met him/her, at a pace more similar to our travels to Bevelle, before he turned into a yellow bullet. The extra weight didn't seem to bother him/her either. I wrapped my hands around waist of the figure in front of me, and smiled all the way until we stopped that night.

* * *

Kelvin trotted, or ran, or whatever you call medium speed of a Chocobo, along the road leading towards the Calm Lands, I think. I hadn't asked where we were going still, and I really still didn't care. It didn't matter, I wasn't going anywhere but where he did.

The ride was quiet, but a little while after we had started moving, I felt Auron's strong hands encircle my waist. A contented smile crossed my face, and I leaned back against him a little bit, making the ride much more comfortable already.

* * *

We stopped before dusk, maybe an hour or two before nightfall. Rikku had fallen asleep against my chest, sleeping peacefully for hopefully the first of many times on this journey. When the Chocobo stopped and knelt down, the jostling woke her up.

"We are done travelling for the day," I said, and she tiredly climbed off the Chocobo, and I followed suit. I removed the stuff I wanted from the bags, and let the Chocobo go search for food and things that it wanted to do. I knew it wouldn't go far from the campsite all night.

I set up the tent, as Rikku sat in the grass, having difficulty keeping her eyes open. She must not have been sleeping well lately, for her to be like that. Usually she was first up and last to sleep, except for me.

"Take a drink of this, it will wake you up," I said, and she missed the evil grin I wore as I handed her the jug of Ronso nog.

"Okay," she said, and took several gulps from the jug and handed it back. I had expected her to spit it out, or choke and cough a little bit, not just take it like a normal person. Most people can't drink Ronso nog with a straight face.

"Al Bhed Rivules are more potent than that water," she said, and laughed. Her energy had returned some, and I smiled. The Rivules had been known to kick my ass, and Kinoc's, and Ger's, many nights of our youth. Even I thought those Rivules were disgustingly powerful. I just kept on smiling, and finished setting up the tent with some help from her.

"So, what now?" she asked, and I thought about it.

"Some firewood would be nice, I suppose. Got reading to do tonight," I said, and she nodded. She fished around in her bag and pulled out her claw and targe. She strapped them on, and then ran into a cluster of trees near where we had stopped.

"Be right back!" she yelled, and disappeared. At least her energy was back, I thought with a smile. I sat down on the grass, and pulled a pair of hardcover leather bound books from the bag Rikku had stuffed them in. One was titled, 'On Spira', the other called 'The Temple's of Yevon's Past'.

I flipped through the pages of 'On Spira', trying to find something that would be useful. I didn't even know what I was looking for, all I knew was that there were nine temples all over Spira that had been abandoned and housed the Fayth for the last thousand years. I figured that the temples wouldn't be near any sort of civilization, obviously. Areas that hadn't been traveled in many years. Rikku has been gone for a while. What? Where did that thought come from?

* * *

I walked through the trees, looking for downed branches and logs that I could actually carry. It seemed like all of the pieces of wood I found were the size of a shoopuf leg, or really really tiny.

"Stupid forest," I said aloud, and continued looking for the wood.

As I walked further in, and found a bunch of branches from a fallen tree. Finally something in the size that would be useful and that I could carry. I picked up six pretty large pieces, filling my arms, and walked back towards where Auron had set up the tent. Wait a minute…THE tent, as in THEE ONLY TENT!

So that means I get to sleep with him? Wait, just sleep. Not _sleep_ with him, right? He only just got back. I mean, it wasn't like I hadn't dreamt about like a bajillion times, but I don't know if I'm ready for this. But those dreams were simply AMAZING! But...what if he leaves again? But then again, what if he does leave again? Should I just get it while it's here? No, that's wrong! Bad Rikku! This whole thought was wrong! I should have put on my fancy underwear on the ship, I knew it. But nooooooo, I just had to grab whatever, who knows if I even brought anything with me! Bad Rikku! Bad!

I walked into the clearing, and Auron looked up to me, and then raised an eyebrow. I must have been blushing pretty bad, but he didn't know what I had been thinking about. At least I hope he didn't. I mean, I'm only 18, I'm supposed to have thoughts like that, right?

I set down the pile of wood, and sat next to Auron to see what he was looking at. I don't really know why I did, it isn't like I knew where we were going. But I suppose I had to find out sometime, why not now?

* * *

I looked up and saw Rikku, blushing roughly the color of my coat. What has she been up to? She had brought more than enough wood for a fire; we were both pretty tired so there was no point of getting more and staying up late. She sat down next to me, and looked at the book I was reading. I suppose I should tell her what we needed to do, I mean I was kind of surprised she hadn't asked any questions at all.

"Would you like to know what I am supposed to do?" I asked of her, and looked into her eyes, those beautiful deep green eyes. I could get lost in them if I wanted to.

"Sure, I mean, if you want to tell me," she said, and I nodded. I had gotten so used to secrets over the last twenty years that it almost felt strange to tell someone what was going on. But there was no way I would be able to keep a secret from her anymore. At least I was going to try not to; it was my nature to keep secrets.

"Alright. Before I came back, I was approached by the Fayth of the aeons that Yuna sent during the battle with Sin," I said, and she nodded. It was hard for me to believe at first, but she just nodded and waited for me to continue.

"But when Summoner's first started making pilgrimages, there were seventeen temples and aeons, not eight," I said, and a sort of dawn of realization crossed her face.

"So we need to send the other aeons? How do we do that without Yunie?" Rikku asked me, and I smiled. She was good, far better than I ever gave her credit for at least. She was as mature as I, at eighteen years old.

"We destroy the statue of the Fayth, which releases the aeons soul. Which means they are no longer bound to Spira, and can go to the Farplane," I said, and she smiled.

"Okay. So where are these temples nobody goes to anymore?" she asked, and I laughed a little bit, she didn't know why though.

"That's what the books are found. But I know there are only two North of Bevelle, so we are heading to the Calm Lands to take care of them, then we can go wherever we want," I said, and she smiled. I knew she liked travelling, that's why she was always onboard that airship when she could be. But this was a long endeavor, it would be three days at the earliest to the Calm Lands and another who knows how long to get to the temples.

"I could always call pops, wouldn't that make this faster?" she asked, and I wondered why I didn't want to use it. Because Tidus and Yuna, and everybody else for that matter, had their own issues to deal with.

"I don't want to get anyone else involved, really. But we can call them if you want to," I said, and she laughed at me, though I didn't know why.

"Am I already wearing the pants?" she said, and it took a second for me to burst out in laughter. But yeah, she probably already did, and I didn't mind one bit.

We lit the logs with a flint I had packed in the bags of the Chocobo, and laid on the grasses to keep reading the books. She had taken the book I had got out of the bag but wasn't reading, and searched for clues as well. At least the Chocobo handler could give me enough food to make it to Rin's in the Calm Lands, I wasn't looking forward to random fiend and vegetable soup already.

"Hey, this might be something!" Rikku said excitedly, and she handed me the book while pointing to which section for me to read.

_Of the seventeen temples, only two reside above Bevelle. Many speculate that this is because it is getting close to Zanarkand, and there would be no point to have Aeons you could not use for your journey, but the truth is still shrouded in mystery. These two temples, located to the East and to the West of the Calm Lands, forming a trinity with Bevelle. These temples, representing the Light and the Dark, were created to help the summoner appreciate his or her sacrifice for the greater good. Both aeons appear differently for each summoner, each a representation of Light and Dark from their own lives. Bevelle is the third in this trinity, with the aeon there representing Law._

"Hmmm, this reminds me of what I read before," I said, and continued reading. I smiled at Rikku as she watched me read.

_The Temple of Alpha, which is the temple of Light, is located to the East. It resides in the Southern portion of the Gagazet Mountains known simply as The Beginning. To reach it most easily, simply go almost directly East-North-East of Remiem Temple, which is located on the Eastern side of the Calm Lands. The path is no longer well groomed, but it was accessible when I traveled there to write of it in this book._

"Accessible when this book was written?" I said quietly, and then flipped to the front of the book to see when it was written.

"When was it written?" Rikku asked excitedly. I finally had a lead on where to go. I had never heard of this temple, or anything residing in that portion of the mountains for that matter, in all of my studies in Bevelle.

"It was written…six hundred years ago," I said, my voice dropping into the back of my throat. This was going to be difficult, that was for sure. If the way he took was good six hundred years ago, who knew what state of disrepair the path he took lie in. I continued reading, trying to see if there was another way.

_The Temple of Omega, the supposed antithesis of the Temple of Alpha, is located in the West. It is located on an Island, called End. This island resides West-North-West of the Calm Lands, and is difficult to reach, even today. There used to be a grand bridge, but it fell quickly into disrepair after Bevelle ordered it closed. The only way I managed to get onto the island was on a boat. The landing I used was on the South Western end of the island, the only beach. The rest of the coast of End is craggy rock, sure to drown even the safest of crews._

Nope, nothing more to help us out. But the book was slightly more descriptive of the island, at least. I think we already decided we were going to the Temple of Alpha first, it sounded more difficult.

"At least we have a Chocobo," Rikku said and smiled. She would definitely make this trip easier, I decided. I dog-eared the page we found that on, and closed the book. It was well after nightfall, and I had gotten tired quickly. Another thing I wasn't used to, getting tired. As an unsent, I didn't have to worry about it. It wasn't like I could die of exhaustion or anything. But now, I was feely extremely tired.

"I think it's time for bed, at least for me," I said, and she nodded. She looked sleepy too, even though she had slept for most of the ride to where we were now.

I got up, and the Chocobo came running to me. I pet its head, and it was satisfied. Maybe it had gotten used to the way I had gotten to Bevelle, no sleep, but now I didn't mind resting. I was not spending months on Chocobo back that was for sure. I wasn't _that_ young anymore.

"Bed time, Kelvin. See you in the morning," I said, and it seemed to understand me. It walked over to a particular thick patch of grass, spun around a couple of times, and folded its legs underneath it in a laying position. I hadn't ever seen a Chocobo sleep, but I guess even they had too. I walked to the tent, with Rikku sitting by the fire. She wouldn't be there long, and if she was I would go get her because she would be asleep.

I removed my clothing down to my boxers, and used my pants as a pillow and my coat as a blanket, like I had on the pilgrimage all that time. As time passed, I considered getting up to get Rikku inside, but then I heard footsteps, and she entered the tent.

* * *

As I was sitting by the fire when Auron entered the tent, I contemplated my next move. I decided not to pounce on him, he said he wasn't going anywhere so he wasn't going anywhere. Am I supposed to change into night clothes with him watching? Or should I just sleep in what I have on? Not like it's that big of a difference with the clothing I wore. But I didn't want to seem awkward to him. I never changed in front of anybody, or at least I hadn't since I was like five. It would be weird if I had a habit of changing in front of other people. My thoughts drifted farther and farther from my original motives of not immediately following Auron to bed the longer I laid there on the grass.

I should have worn the fancy underwear, just in case. I mean my t shirt doesn't cover up as much as I always think it does. Then I wouldn't have to worry about any of this. And if nothing happened, then at least I was still wearing underwear, right? Why didn't I think of this before? But maybe if I wore the fancy underwear then Auron would just jump me like a King Couerl! Would that be a bad thing? Bad Rikku! Bad! Bad!

I realized my thoughts were going to be a serious problem if this journey went forever. I knew I was blushing, but I was alone and it didn't matter. I was in love, so I was allowed to have thoughts like that! Damn right I do.

As I was thinking about what to do, I started dozing off. A quiet 'wark' from the Chocobo woke me up a little bit, and I decided to just walk into the tent and change. I was really too tired to care at this point. I got up, walked over to the tent, and entered as nonchalantly as I could.

It was dark, at least, which gave my confidence a boost. Auron was still awake I know, because his head popped up when the tent opened. With no blanket, at least I would get to snuggle up next to him. I smiled devilishly when I thought about that.

I pulled off my top and bottoms, and sat down in only my underwear to dig through my bag, looking for my big t shirt I wore to bed. I went down to stick my hand into the bag, but all I got was Auron's shirt. I moved it to the side, and dug until I found it. It felt soft, like it had been washed too many times, so I knew I had found it. I threw it over my head, and then scooted over next to Auron.

"Thank you, Rikku," Auron said, and I smiled. My body was parallel with his, and I felt him throw his coat over my body as well. The coat was huge when it wasn't latched in the front. And it was warm, I knew this because he had given it to me a couple of times on Mt. Gagazet when I was shivering so bad I couldn't sleep.

"For what?" I replied. I should be the one saying 'thank you', not him.

"For not hating me, after everything I did to you," he said, and I could feel my eyes get all teary. I hadn't ever hated him, I might have been angry he was gone, but I had never hated him. Quite the opposite actually, I loved him.

"I love you, and I'm complete now that you are back," I said, and it was true. Him being gone was what took the wind out of my sails, changed me into an almost soulless zombie.

"I love you too, Rikku. And I always will," he said quietly, and I smiled. It felt good to hear him say that. It always did, and I hoped it always would.

I turned over onto my side, the side that wasn't facing him. For some reason I could never sleep on my other side, like it was defective or something. I felt his hand reach around my waist, and pull me close to him.

He was so warm! It was like having a personal heater, but better than that. His arm reached over my side, and I grabbed the hand of that arm, and held tight. I had never felt more secure in my entire life than I did when I was surrounded by those strong and sensitive arms. Sleep overcame me quickly.

* * *

I lay there, with my arm draped around this girl I could never get my arms around. Finally, I had what I had wanted almost since I had first met her. She was perfect, in every way. Understanding, caring, protective, fiery, witty, funny… the list goes on and on. Even when she sleeps she is the most beautiful creature in all of Spira, and Zanarkand for that matter.

Her breathing became much more regularly, and she snuggled closer into my side. She had fallen asleep, I think. Her grip loosened on my hand, and her hand fell to the floor of the tent. I stroked her hair softly, caressing her beautiful tresses.

I was…I don't know how to explain it. Think of the most powerful, beautiful, happiest emotion in the world, and then you have a glimmer of what I am feeling. I slowly fell to sleep, the best sleep I had ever had, at any time of my life.

And here ends Chapter 3. Hope you enjoyed, I know it isn't as long as the others, but they will lengthen out again. Reviewsme work faster haha. I have an actual desktop to use this weekend, so we'll see how much drive I have. I mean you can affect the drive gauge with reviews and such :) Nothing like a shameless plug, huh?


	4. Damn Bird

Okay, so I know this one isn't as long as I would like it to be, but I wrote this in the freezing cold outside. I mean, my little brother refused to leave me alone, so I sat out in the wind and drizzle to type this up, no joke. So be happy, I promise the next one will be longer (if you review:) Anyways, enjoy!

Note: I don't own this, FFX, or anything else. Just an FYI, being sued sucks...

* * *

**Chapter 4: Damn Bird**

I woke suddenly and sat up quickly. There was a mysterious arm draped around my side, and I jumped away from it. I thought I had been having the most glorious of dreams; that Auron had come back to me. My eyes followed the arm up to the body it seemed to be attached to. And then I saw his face. He was back, it wasn't a dream. It was real, thank the gods it was real.

"What's wrong?" Auron asked me, and I just smiled. I knew I had tears streaming down my face again, but they were from relief, not unhappiness. I just lay back down next to him, and his arm resumed its position, holding me tight.

"I thought this was a dream," I said, and he snorted. The usual Auron sign for stupid thoughts expressed out loud. It wasn't cold outside by any means, but we would have to get a blanket if we were going up into the mountains for sure. I mean, I'm tiny and my feet almost were poking out of the bottom of his coat. A blanket with baby Chocobos on it would be awesome, I think.

"How did you sleep otherwise?" he asked, and I turned to face him. He just smiled at me, and I knew I was smiling back, ear to ear at least. The smile was probably threatening to have my head just lop itself in two.

"Good, you?" I asked, and he laughed.

"The ground is hard. And my pants aren't a very good pillow," he said and laughed some more. I had to agree, a pair of pants is no pillow, at any time. Might as well use a rock or tree branch.

The Chocobo must have heard us talking, because the tent started shaking violently amongst a flurry of loud 'warks'. Auron's face contorted into an evil grin, and it made me laugh even louder. The bird was just trying to make him angry, I think. A dangerous game, that was.

Auron sat up, stretched, and grabbed his shirt. He continued dressing leaving me on the ground underneath his coat. I blushed a little, realizing I wasn't wearing a whole lot. I had to get used to this sometime, but…not right now. Auron saw my blush and just smiled.

"I'll wait for you outside," he said, and let himself out. "Gahhhh!"

As the tent flap was shutting, I saw a yellow streak tackle Auron, throwing him onto the ground. I burst out laughing, and I could hear Auron grumble, curse words in Spiran, Al Bhed, and other languages I couldn't understand. It was hilarious, Auron had made a friend.

"You think it's so funny?" I heard him say, and then the tent started collapsing around me.

"Auron you meanie! I'll be out in a second!" I said loudly, and he just laughed, leaving the tent half collapsed. I'll have his head for this, that's for sure.

I threw off the coat, and changed into a new set of clothes that looked pretty much like the ones I always wore. Short and to the point, pops used to always say. What point was he talking about? Anyways, I packed up the bag and jumped out of the tent. Auron was talking to the Chocobo, and it looked really happy. Maybe Auron has just lost his mind, that's all. No big deal, better than being dead, they always say. Oh that was mean…

* * *

I waited for Rikku to get done with whatever it was that took females so long to get done in the morning. The Chocobo had already tackled me this morning, things were looking up. At least the damn bird was still here. And Rikku was laughing, at me, but laughing nonetheless. Such a wonderful start to a day.

Rikku burst from the tent and scowled at me. I just smiled, and continued what I had started before and took down the tent. It fit right back in its bag, and back onto the Chocobo. The bird looked ready to go, so no worries there. I pulled two big chunks off of a loaf of bread that I had, and handed one to her.

"No deluxe breakfast at this hotel?" she said and smiled at me.

"This is deluxe, I can send the bird for what you could have had," and I smiled venomously. She just laughed at proceeded in eating the bread I had given her. Hopefully Rin could set us up a little better than that Chocobo stable could, he usually was at the one in the Calm Lands.

We both finished eating, and we got up to get on the Chocobo. As she stood there, waiting for me to get on, I just gave her a once-over, and she punched me in the arm.

"That costs money, you know," she said, and it was my turn to laugh. I hadn't been this at ease in…forever, I think. I didn't even feel like myself anymore, and I really didn't feel like going back to the way I had been.

"How about this for payment?" I asked, sweeping her backwards and dipping her deeply to kiss her on the lips. I stood her back up and she just blushed a little bit. I guess she hadn't been expecting that. I did, at one point, no how to dance believe it or not.

"I guess that works," she said, and I laughed again. I mounted the bird, and helped her up onto the Chocobo in front of me. I spurred the Chocobo in the side, and it again resumed the pace he had kept up all of yesterday.

* * *

We rode for several hours, until the sun was past noon. My butt was getting so sore; I wasn't used to this kind of thing you know. It wasn't uncomfortable, but I wasn't the kind of person to sit in one place for any length of time usually. But I had Auron's arms around me, and that helped a little bit. But my energy got the best of me, and I finally turned around to talk to Auron.

"Can we stop for a while?" I asked, and he nodded. He patted the Chocobo on the back leg a couple of times, and he slowed down to let us off. He seemed hungry too, I guess.

"Thanks," I said, jumping in place to regain feeling in some of my extremities.

"I'm getting hungry too," Auron said, fishing around in the Chocobo's bags. He pulled something out, re-latched the bags, and slapped the Chocobo signaling it was his turn to find some food.

He handed me a big piece of beef jerky, another piece of bread, and an apple. I just smiled, and devoured almost all of it. I hadn't realized how hungry I was, it wasn't like I was doing anything to lose energy. Maybe the Chocobo just siphoned it away to keep on plodding along. Who knows?

"God, my butt hurts bad," I said, returning to my jumping around. I needed to vent the energy somehow, here was better than it was on the back of a Chocobo.

"You were the one who said 'at least we have a Chocobo'," Auron said, and smiled at me. It was so good awesome amazing to see him smile. I had only seen it a couple of times before he left, but now he really didn't seem to have another expression. Not that I'm complaining, because I'm not, I just wanted to get used to this Auron.

"I know. We could get a hover or machina or something instead of the Chocobo," I said, and he just laughed.

"And how is a hover going to climb up a mountain?" he asked, and I frowned a little bit. Hadn't quite thought about that, damn mountains.

"How long until we get to Rin's?" I asked, and he looked like he was doing calculations on how long. I didn't even really know where we were, I mean I had an idea, but I really didn't know. Between Bevelle and the Calm Lands, that was all I had. So I really didn't even have an idea.

"Two more days, I think. Providing it isn't terrible weather," he said, and I cringed. I hadn't thought about bad weather. I didn't really bring a coat. I had a sweatshirt, but nothing as far as snow worthy. I had almost lost my nipples to the cold on Gagazet, I swear. Okay, that was a little obscene of a metaphor, maybe I almost lost my fingers. But if I lost my nipples wouldn't Auron be sad? I just blushed and laughed off my last thought as I jumped around. Auron just smiled.

"I think I can handle that," I said, and the Chocobo came walking back into view. It had only been gone for fifteen minutes tops, but it looked as chipper as it had this morning. I'll never understand those birds, I swear.

"Ready to go?" he asked me, and I nodded. Sooner we left, the sooner I got to share a real bed with him. And that made me blush even darker, thank god I was on the front and he couldn't see my face.

* * *

I noticed the sun was starting to fall, and I stopped the Chocobo again. He seemed glad for the rest. Maybe the combined weight of me and her stuff was weighing him down a little. I mean, her bag probably weighed more than she did. We both climbed off, and Rikku duck walked a bit from numb legs.

"I'm good!" she said, and promptly lost her legs and fell forward. I just laughed, and she scowled back at me. I pulled our bag, the tent, and some food from the Chocobo's back, and slapped him on his way to find some food for himself.

"Obviously," I said, and found a spot to put our tent.

"Meanie," she said, finally able to stand up again. She strolled over, and just sat in the grass and watched me fumble with the tent. I swear it was made by a Hypello with one left arm on the right side of his body. I finally got it standing, and Rikku clapped.

"Thanks a lot for your help, I mean I couldn't have done it without you," I said sarcastically, and she just grinned. She hopped over and kissed me, and then rummaged through her bag. She pulled out her claw and targe, and started strapping them on.

"We need fire!" she said, and hopped along towards the forest. We were pretty much skirting the borders of Macalania Forest now. The depths were still ripe with fiends, however, so we did not travel within them.

"Be careful, Rikku!" I yelled, but I don't think she heard me. She was too far away and in her own little world.

* * *

I walked through the forest, again looking for something I could carry. I swear they made the fallen branches just too big for me. Stupid forest, just had a grudge against me for some reason. Maybe my dashing good looks, or my amazingly awesome fighting skills, or something like that. Who knows?

I finally found a few pieces that we could use, but continued looking for me. I was sort of humming something with the birds. They were always around singing, or so I thought. As I was humming, I realized it had gotten really quiet really really fast. I looked around, but I didn't see anything, which just seemed to creep me out more.

I attentively kept walking around, trying to start backtracking back to Auron. But the birds didn't start singing again and that certainly didn't help my nerves. I heard some howls in the distance, and it really started creeping me out.

I noticed the sounds seemed to be getting closer to where I was, and I started running. I don't know why I was running, but then something snaked out of nowhere and threw me backwards. I dropped all the wood as I flew through the air. I flipped around backwards, and landed on my feet like I always did. But I knew that would leave a healthy bruise. I looked around for what had hit me, but I couldn't see anything.

I heard the growling first, and found myself staring down the biggest Chimera I had ever seen. I mean, we had killed several on our way through Macalania before, but this one was HUGE! Like three times the normal ones size, the snake tail as big as me.

I threw myself down to avoid a quickly thrown punch and it just seemed to make it angrier I think. It roared loudly, and I prayed Auron could hear it, but I knew I had wandered too far away from the camp we set up. I quickly got back up, and the Chimera just stared at something in the distance. I turned to see what it was, and it was Kelvin, I think. I mean Chocobo's were hard to tell apart. The bird took off, and I prayed it was to Auron. There was no way I could kill this thing with a little claw.

The Chimera must have seen me turn around, because all I saw was pain as I flew through the air again. The Chimera's fist had connected solid on my right arm, and I was thrown like a rag doll into a tree. I slumped down the tree, and I honestly couldn't feel much. My right arm was numb, the stupid claw was useless now. My right half, when I thought about it, was pretty much numb.

The creature looked around for where it had thrown me, and I slowly started trying to escape. I had always been good at getting away, but this overgrown meanie saw me somehow and I just started sprinting as fast as I could. It was hard to run with no right half, but I was making good speed. But like twenty of my steps were two of his. His roar sounded like a laugh as it chased me, as if it were a game. And his prize would be a nice Rikku stew.

I dodged through the brush, weaving through the trees, but I couldn't shake the thing. I ducked around a tree and found myself looking in the face of a normal sized Chimera. I quickly juked to the right, and now had two evil things chasing after me. I knew I was getting closer to the camp, but I was still too far away. And then I felt the searing heat of a pair of fireballs, and it all went black.

* * *

"She's been gone for a while," I mused, flipping through the pages. I was still in my coat with sword strapped to my back. I didn't want to get out of it until we had a fire, so I could actually stay warm. For some reason Macalania had always exuded cold. It was nice in the Calm Lands so I never understood why Macalania was frozen.

I flipped another page, and looked up to see if I could see her somewhere, but all I saw was green foliage. I looked back down, and I was almost bowled over by Kelvin.

"Damn bird!" I yelled, trying to get him to leave me alone. But it insisted, picking me up with its beak, and then sitting so I could climb on it. I didn't understand what the hell was going on, but I jumped on anyways, and it took off at a speed faster than I could have imagined. The bird was making a ton of noise, crushing brush and screaming loudly.

I heard the roar, and I knew what was going on. Rikku was in trouble, and the Chocobo had saved her, I hoped. He had come to get me at least. The bird burst through the brush and into a clearing, and I saw Rikku lying on the ground unmoving, and then I saw the enormous Chimera roaring, with what seemed like laughter. He had at least five other smaller Chimera's with him, it looked like. Nothing like intelligent beasts ganging up on helpless women.

I leapt from the bird, unclipping my sword in midair. The Chimeras hadn't seen me yet, and I slowly flipped through the air, pulling my sword down with all the might I could muster. These _things_ had hurt my Rikku, my Rikku! Anger was my only emotion, and I pulled out of my slow flip, pulling the sword to the ground.

Two halves of a smaller Chimera slipped to the ground, cleaved in half. The others looked for this new intruder, and saw me. All I saw was red; four more things that needed to die. So many thoughts flew through me as I stood there staring at them. They had the gall to hurt the one thing I had come back for, the one person who mattered. And they would pay.

I sprinted after the large Chimera, and several of the smaller ones stepped in the way. I chopped them into small pieces the same way I had the first, and then there was just me and the boss. And soon there would be just me. I swung my sword around, and the fury blinded even me.

* * *

I regained consciousness long enough to feel an extremely hot wind blow past me, and when I opened the one eye I could, all I saw was a red coat and flames. And then, as soon as I had come again, the darkness overtook me again. But this time with a small smile.

* * *

The charred, unmoving body of the large Chimera slumped and fell backwards onto the ground. I strapped the sword back in quickly, and ran over to Rikku. She was burned bad, and had too many cuts to count. She was unresponsive to any of my calls.

"Rikku, please wake up."

"Rikku, please, I need you here."

"Come on!"

Curses slipped from my mouth in every language I knew how, Spiran, Al Bhed, Ronso, Hypello, even some I picked up in Zanarkand. As the curses flew, so did the tears. It was a relatively unknown feeling for me, as I slipped my arms around the unmoving body of the one person that had mattered the most to me. Not had, DOES!

I walked quickly back to the camp, trying to figure out what I needed to do. The potions we had brought with us wouldn't heal this, I already knew that. She needed actual medical attention, and we were closer to the Calm Lands than to Bevelle now. A part of me took over, because the real me was about to collapse. Emotional and physical stress had taken its toll already, so this no-emotion uncontrollable part of me took over.

I got back to camp, and the Chocobo was waiting. I packed the bag, and threw it around the bird's neck. He didn't make any sounds, and I knew the bag was heavy. But I couldn't hold onto the bag and her, and the bird knew it. He sat down real low, and I slowly climbed aboard. The bird sat up slowly too, and took off towards the Calm Lands. I spurred the bird harder, and he was almost sprinting back to Rin's.

This mechanical part of me reasoned that at this pace, we could get there in less than eight hours. But that was up to the Chocobo, not me. Hopefully she was going to be able to make it. But as we rode, this mechanical part of me started to fade; the emotional and unknown side of me took over.

I had been riding the past few days on the highest of highs, and now I knew the downfall of real emotions. I hadn't had to deal with real emotions since before I went to the academy, and now I remembered why I had turned as hard as stone.

The tears poured down my face, my body slowly heaving in agony. If she didn't make it, then I would take myself to her again, anyway I could. I refused to lose her again. My emotions turned to determination, and the Chocobo seemed to sense that. He spurred himself faster into the night, walking paths that I couldn't really see. I prayed that the Chocobo knew what he was doing, but most of all I prayed that Rikku, my poor sweet Rikku, would be alright.

* * *

Kelvin and I rode through the night like shades, flying upon the ground we rode upon. I did not need to spur him further or faster; he was pushing as hard as he could. We exited the forest before the moon had risen to its apex, and continued our flight. We passed like ghosts, passing other camps and travelers alike. I could hear shouts as we passed, but Kelvin never altered his pace or course, he was on a mission.

I could feel his muscles straining against my legs, but yet he pressed onwards. I still cradled Rikku in my arms, knowing the jostling was not good for her. But it was worse to stop, that much I knew. She still felt warm, and jolts of electricity ever time she groaned, me fearing for the worst. I knew we were going the fastest we possibly could, but I prayed we could keep it up.

All I have to say is, thank god Rin moved his travel agency. I knew he had had plans to move it to the front of the Calm Lands in order to open a second on at the other end. A monopoly of sorts. But as the sun began to rise in the east, the path we flew upon turned into a well-used road. And still the Chocobo soared, the closest thing to flight a Chocobo could ever attain.

The Chocobo 'warked' quietly, and I saw the rising set of buildings ahead of us. Rin's Travel Agency had made itself a bit of a town, I guess. I didn't admire the town; however, I headed directly for the building with its lights on. The Chocobo sprinted until the last moment, screeching to a halt as dust and rocks flew from its talons upon the screeching stop. I jumped off the bird's back, and ran inside.

"Hello, wel…" the lady at the desk started, but I cut her off.

"She needs medical attention, NOW!" I screamed, the distress obvious. We were wasting time, more time than she had. She ran upstairs, and Rin came down the stairs four at a time. He took one look at me, and nodded. He motioned for me to follow him, and I did.

He entered a room, and motioned for me to lay her down. It wasn't a medical facility, but I knew Rin well, we went pretty far back. His skills in healing were astounding, and all of it without magic of any sort. Rikku still hadn't moved a single muscle, and she looked terrible. Her face had swollen and turned red, one of her eyes a black hole of swollen tissue. Her hair was matted with blood like the rest of her tiny body. Her arms and legs were covered in cuts and gashes, dried shut from her own blood. She had a large gash from her shoulder to her stomach, the worst wound of them all. She had lost a lot of blood, and looked extremely pale. It wasn't befitting her naturally tanned skin.

"Stay with her," he said, and ran out of the room. I nodded, and knelt at the bedside.

"Please Rikku, don't leave me. It will all be okay, I need you here," I said quietly, grasping one of her hands lightly. I kissed her lightly on the lips, and Rin returned with the lady from the front desk, arms full of medical supplies

"Leave the room, I need the room to work," he said, and I nodded dumbly. What am I supposed to do with myself, knowing she was in here? I walked out of the room and back down into the main part of the agency. I looked out of the glass door, and saw Kelvin lying there on the road, not moving.

I ran out the door, and Kelvin looked up at me with his beady little eyes. My heart panged for him, he had given his all, and then some. He was truly a loyal pet, maybe not a pet anymore. A loyal friend seemed more appropriate.

"Wark…" the Chocobo voiced his opinion on the situation quietly.

"She's in good hands, my friend," I said, and helped the bird to its feet. Kelvin was extremely wobbly, almost unable to stand. I walked him to the stable on the backside of the agency while pulling the bag from around his neck. I looked at where the bag had sat, and there was a ring of missing feathers. The bird really had sacrificed a lot to get us here.

I put him in a stable, and he laid down on the bed of grasses and hays. I pulled the saddlebags from around him, laying them down on the ground in his stable. I pulled a trio of apples, the last three I had brought with me, and hand fed them to Kelvin. He devoured them, but was careful not to nip me with his beak. Ravenous, I think. All night with no stops or food had to do something to a Chocobo. They were all muscle and sinew, no fat reserves for that kind of trip.

I fed him the three apples, and searched the stable until I found a large bale of grasses labeled Gysahl. I grabbed an armful, and brought it to Kelvin, who looked up at me as I returned. He could probably have smelled me coming with this stuff. He couldn't eat it himself, so I slowly fed him clump after clump of the pungent grasses until I ran out of the stuff. He seemed satiated, so I stood up.

"Wark!"

"I'll be back, I promise," I said, and the bird laid his head back down. I don't know how they could understand me, but I was glad they could. I couldn't have asked the Fayth for a better Chocobo if I had wanted to. I must have been outside for close to two hours, because Rin and the lady were waiting for me as I re-entered the Agency.

"Is she going to be alright?" I asked, and he nodded. Relief surged through my body, and if there hadn't have been a chair behind me, I would have just collapsed to the floor. We made it in time; she wasn't going anywhere, yet.

"She had third degree burns on the entire backside of her body, two broken arms, nine cracked ribs, innumerable cuts and gashes, and her right eye is so swollen shut it is unbelievable. I don't know what you were doing, but she will be alright. In a couple of days, she should be fine enough to walk around, I hope," he said, and I nodded. Rin's trading business had brought him in contact with the ingredients to make the strongest of potions, and his non-magical healing was arguably the best in Spira. He had been working on that back in Bevelle, when I was younger. A story for Rikku, in a couple of days, probably. But not now, I knew.

"Anything long term?" I asked of him, and my gut turned when he nodded.

"The burns will heal, but there will be some scarring. She had no tissue left in the center of her back, like a fireball had hit her or something. An extremely powerful one, for that matter. There is an area of about four inches around that will scar over. But nothing other than that. Consider yourself lucky, friend," Rin said, and stood.

"I do, Rin. I will repay you, like I always do. Can I go up to her?" I asked, and he nodded again. Rin was one of the few Rikku had confided in about me, but she had no idea that Rin and I were friends from Bevelle. I always owed Rin a favor or something.

"Go, my friend. Mciib zicc," (sleep well) he said, and I walked up the stairs tentatively. I slowly opened the door to the room I had left her in, and she laid there yet unmoving. She was covered in bandages, her clothing resting on a table in the back. Even her head and face had bandages on them, something to keep the potions from running I supposed. It pained me to see her like that.

Again I knelt at her bedside, holding her bandaged hand in my own lightly. I kissed the tips of each of her fingers, the only part uncovered from bandages. As I kissed her pinky, I could feel her hand flinch in response.

"A…Auron?" she croaked. Nothing like the voice I knew, it sounded just like pain. And it tore my insides up like I swallowed a thousand razors. I never wanted to hear that voice again, the pain and agony making me want to break down like a small child.

"I'm here, Rikku," I said quietly, knowing tears were again flowing down my face.

"I'm…I'm sorry," she said, and began coughing. It made the tears pour out, her apologizing to me.

"It is my fault, Rikku. Just sleep now, I will be here for you," I said, and she tried to nod. Her head moved, and she groaned in pain.

"I love you," she said, and I smiled. I felt sad and happy at the same time, she was in so much pain, yet she was still alive.

"I love you to, Rikku, I love you too," I said, and I clung onto her however I could until I knew that she had fallen asleep.

Once she fell asleep, I didn't know what to do with myself. Part of me wanted to wander the forest and kill everything that moved, but I knew that wouldn't help anything. Rikku and Kelvin would be pissed at me then. Damn bird. I decided to sit in the recliner next to her bed, and I stayed awake until the sun began setting again. She still slept, and she needed it. I refused food, only getting up to use the bathroom and I quickly sat again.

I thought about reading, but I knew I wouldn't be able to concentrate. Instead I stared at the unmoving body of Rikku, knowing I would never let it happen again. Ever again. As I stated that repeatedly in my mind, my eyelids began to take over my body. I could no longer keep them open, and I succumbed to the darkness known as sleep.

* * *

**Hope you enjoyed it :) It was fun to write, I went through and edited it twice, so I think the spelling/grammar is okay. For the first time in my life, I wished I was female so I could understand emotions :(**


	5. Learning the History

**Alright, I'm going to apologize, my usual three chapters a week has been slashed drastically because of my own laziness. I'll try harder, I promise. Also, I know this chapter is again shorter, but it was a good place to end it, they'll get longer again I promise. So many promises I feel like Auron, haha. **

**I've noticed how many people have favorited me as an Author and for this story, and I want to thank each and every one of you. Now that I got that, feel free to review too, ya? Thanks again, even if you never review, just for reading.**

**Sorry for the long AN, but I had to dedicate this chapter to bhfirewife and beautifulxxdisaster for their inspiring reviews and such. Thanks a bunch :)  
**

**Note: I don't own FFX, Spira, or Chocobo's. **

* * *

**Chapter Five: Learning the History  
**

I awoke, and groaned. My back still hurt as did several other things I didn't want to know about, but I wasn't dead. Always a good thing, I suppose. Where the hell am I? I don't remember anything after that Chimera hit with that fireball. That Chimera…evil bastard. Auron? Where was Auron?

I struggled to open my eyes, panic taking over me. I remember talking to him, kind of. He said he loved me, but he didn't sound the same. Sounded hurt, I think. My panic was kind of subsiding, but I couldn't move far enough without wincing in pain to see him. I opened my mouth, which happened to be extremely dry, and managed to squeak something out.

"A…Auron?" I croaked, not recognizing my own voice.

I heard a flurry of movement next to me, and then a hand holding my own. It didn't hurt, but it wasn't exactly comfortable either. I could almost feel empathy emanating from him, which seemed strange almost.

"You are awake finally," he said, and his voice started choking up on him.

"Finally? What do you mean?" I asked of him. It felt like a nap, really.

"You haven't been awake since the night I brought you here, five days ago," Auron said, relief pouring through him. I groaned, five days? Wait, five days? Where were we?

"Where is 'here'?" I asked, and I moved my head through the pain to see his face as he was kneeling next to me.

"Rin's, in the Calm Lands," he said calmly and I got a pit in my stomach. If Rin knew, so did…

"Pops is gonna know we are here," I said quickly, nervous at his reaction. I knew he would lay Auron out if he got here before we left.

"Rin didn't say anything, I asked him not to actually," Auron said, and I smiled. "Me and Rin go way back, a long story," he said and nodded. He knew freaking everybody, I swear. My pain didn't seem so bad with him next to me, I felt…at peace, I think. I knew everything would be alright if he was still here.

"You should tell me, I'm not going anywhere anytime soon," I said and kind of choked out a laugh. It was strangled sounding, but that's what happens when you don't talk for five days I guess.

* * *

"Alright, I can tell you. Don't tell him your dad though, he still has no idea," I said and smiled. More and more secrets, but Rin was a good man, and I refused to betray him at least.

"I won't, don't worry. Pops is scary when he's mad," Rikku said, and I laughed. She was very right about that.

"Okay, well…where do I start? I went to Bevelle when I was twelve years old. The story about that is for another night, but I was taken in by Yevon as an orphan. I began training as a warrior monk with Kinoc and a few other friends when I was thirteen," I said, and she looked confused.

"You have friends?" she said and tried to giggle. Her voice was returning, but it wasn't quite back yet. It made me chuckle a little bit, and she tried to glare at me. It just ended up being a faint hearted smile.

"There were four of us that ran together for several years. Me, Kinoc, Ger, and your uncle," I said, and her eyes lit up. She knew that Rin had disappeared for ten years or so at around the same time Cid's sister did, but she didn't know why, until now.

"We truly were good friends, sneaking out of the barracks for nights on the town, sneaking back in drunker than a skoll. We all knew he was Al Bhed, and the Church knew. It gave us a perspective, if you will. He was hated by a lot of people for being a 'heathen', but the other three of us stood up for him. He was really respected, said he always wanted to bring peace between Yevonites and the Al Bhed, and I knew he was good for it. He was the one that convinced Braska to have that damn meeting that sent me to prison for almost two years," I said and laughed. My youth had truly been exciting.

"You were in prison?" she asked, and I laughed.

"Another story for another night, I suppose. But yes, I was, and I blame it on Braska and Rin. Anyways, back to the story at hand. The four of us passed our final exams with brilliance. There were 340 of us our class, and it went Rin, me, Kinoc, Ger as the top spots. Yup, Rin was a genius, and still is," I said, and she smiled. Her uncle had always been a genius, I mean look at how well his agencies have done.

"So my uncle was a Monk of Yevon?" she asked very surprised.

"That he was; a damn good one too. The four of us got split up when we got posted, Rin getting sent to a research facility in Bevelle working on non-magical healing. And he was so damn good at it that in two years he was leading the facility. When the facility stopped getting funding, Rin disappeared. All four of us were fed up with Yevon, that facility was the only thing keeping Rin in Bevelle. Something to actually help the people," I said and smiled. He was still working on that healing too, thank god. Because if he hadn't, this would have…I refuse to finish that thought.

"So where did the rest of you end up?" Rikku asked. The other story completed, I decided to just answer all of her questions. She already seemed strained and tired, but I would talk until she fell back to sleep at least.

"Kinoc ended up as a guard for Maester Mika. He rose quickly, and in the ten years after I left he went through the court, the priesthood, and up to Maester himself. Ger is a teacher at the academy now, but I have no idea what he was up to after I left. When we leave the Calm Lands for south, we are going to stop by so I can talk to him a little bit more, I owe him a drink," I said and smiled. He would like Rikku, I think. The two of them were similar, when Ger was younger at least. Always a bit too energetic for his own good.

"What about you?" she asked, and I didn't know if I should say anything. There were reasons I had buried my past, and I suddenly got extremely defensive. I didn't suspect it at all, but there it was. If anyone should know, it's her, I reasoned. But with the things I did, nobody should be around me, now.

"I'll tell you, I suppose. But…this is the past. Please don't hate me for any of it," I said softly. She might, who knows. But these are the things I have never told anyone, the reasons why I stood up for Braska, the reasons I turned down the marriage, the reasons I refused to ascend the church hierarchy, the reasons for the way I am now.

"I couldn't hate you if I tried," she said and smiled and squeezed my hand. I had forgotten I held onto it, but that was all I needed to be reminded.

"I was deployed as a Warrior Monk, my physical skills were…well, far superior to anyone else in our group of Monks. I was given a group of ten Monks to command, and I moved up from there. Before I left, I was commanding half of Bevelle's military. Not making commands as to where and when, but calling the shots in the field. That's why I was fast-tracked to the Court. I was called un-killable, the most fearsome warrior of Bevelle, and a bunch of other useless titles. The truth was…I was just stupid enough to keep swinging when others ran, I didn't know when to stop," I said, trying to keep my words vague. I didn't want any of the gory details to become known, the atrocities I had committed. And I was far from un-killable, which the last ten years had proven to me.

"But I thought Bevelle hasn't had a war in hundreds of years?" Rikku said, and my stomach dropped to the floor. That was what Bevelle had said, not what they had done.

"So the Church said, but that was not the case. Secret wars, campaigns, assassinations, all for the Church to assume superiority of Spira," I said quietly. It was true; Bevelle had people like me kill thousands to assure their own power.

"Oh, okay. I won't ask any more questions," Rikku said suddenly, and I looked up. I didn't understand it, but she just smiled at me. My worries melted away, replaced by a feeling of love and empathy.

"Thank you. Maybe someday, I'll tell you. I just can't, not yet," I said, and felt numb once again. The same old cop out story I had been using for years, with Rikku of all people. She had no reason to wait, no reason for me to keep secrets, but she just kept on smiling at me. I never understood her completely, and sometimes I was glad I didn't. I just don't know how I could have gotten so lucky and gotten somebody like her.

"I'm really tired, I think I'm going back to sleep," she said, and it was my turn to smile at her. She looked much better, but she was still covered in bandages. Rin said maybe tomorrow they could come off, maybe in a couple of days. I was in no hurry, however.

"Okay, I love you Rikku," I said, and she squeezed my hand tight.

"I love you too, Auron," she said, and I held her hand until she had once again fallen to sleep. She hadn't eaten anything solid since that night we slept together. Rin had been feeding her soup, or tried to, but I couldn't help but think that she would just wither away. There wasn't much of her to lose from not eating.

I just smiled and stood up, letting go of her hand. She was sleeping peacefully again, and I headed out of the room to speak with Rin and see Kelvin for a while. It was all I could do waiting around here.

I walked down the stairs and found Rin manning the counter, his usual counter worker missing.

"She woke up, Rin," I said, excitement coursing through my words. Rin had said it could have taken up to another week.

"Good, good. Her wounds look good, too. Nothing left to do but keep the salve on the wounds, and keep her here. You can take the bandages off when she wakes up again too, I think. I'll just leave the stuff in her room, it's your turn to take care of her," Rin said and grinned the too familiar mischievous grin in my direction.

"Rin, I can't thank you enough," I said, and he just nodded.

"Nope, you can't. So stop thanking me," he said and we both laughed. We had talked a bit of the past over the last couple of days, something I hadn't done with Rin since before he left Bevelle. Same old Rin; liked a couple of strong drinks, never settled down, inhuman amounts of energy. Something that seemed to be missing all these years after Bevelle.

"Okay, I can do that. But there is nothing I can do?" I asked, knowing I needed to repay him somehow.

"There is one thing, I suppose. I haven't been to Gagazet in some time. Think you can get me a couple jugs of Ronso nog?" he asked, and I laughed. Khimari would have no problem with that, I didn't think.

"No problem there. I'll leave them at the agency on the north side of the Calm Lands?" I asked, and he nodded. "It'll be a little bit, but I'll get them for you," and he nodded again.

"Anything for that nog. Been too long, I figure," he said, and we both laughed again. My life seemed almost normal again, old friends, the new woman of my life, laughter. How much things had changed.

I walked outside and over to the stables to see Kelvin, but was surprised to not see him in his stall. He could hop on over any fence less than seven feet tall, but he didn't usually. I walked back out of the stable looking for him, and found him perusing a grassy field a little ways from the agency. I suppose fresh greens beat the stuff in the stable any day.

The bird saw me and ran over, his mouth still stuffed with the pungent green grass. He swallowed it down as I petted his neck, and he 'warked' with his mouth full. I just laughed, and continued to pet the bird. I owed it my life, at least once over now. And for that he wasn't going anywhere without me, which I am pretty sure was exactly what he wanted.

I had been reading a book in Rin's when nobody was around to talk to on the taking care of Chocobo's, and learned quite a bit. I had begun checking the length of his talons, making sure that his legs didn't get too scaly, and making sure his feathers were looking okay. He was happy with the attention, which just seemed to cheer me up a little. I didn't feel like reading the books we had brought with us, I didn't want to think about it right now.

I didn't want Rikku getting hurt again, but it was hard to choose between hurting her by making her stay behind, or having her get hurt by fiends again. There were bound to be fiends in these ancient temples, but… She would never let me leave her here, I don't think. She would strangle me first, even if she is still hurting.

I stayed outside, petting and checking Kelvin over and over again. I didn't have much else to do; I had finished the Chocobo book and didn't really feel like doing anything else. It was beautiful outside, too. Not too warm, not too cold, a nice breeze, partly cloudy. The leaves were changing colors now; fall was such a nice season. But it would start to get cold soon, in a couple of weeks at the earliest, but that would also slow the journey down quite a bit.

Not like this journey had to be completed now, but sooner was better, didn't want to piss off the Fayth now. It made me smile, at least they had been nice enough so far. A good Chocobo, Rikku had lived, and I knew where I was going.

I headed back inside to get some food. It was probably around dinner time, but I didn't know. I hadn't been following time really since I had gotten back, it didn't matter anymore. But my stomach told me it was time to eat, and that I did. A bowl of thick stew with a heel of bread was what I got, and it was delicious. Rin was a good cook too, but I didn't know if he had cooked this. He often didn't stay in the same place long, so he must have cooks at each agency or something like that.

I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand, and brought the dishes back to the lady at the front desk, and headed upstairs to the room me and Rikku had been sharing. She was lying in the bed, but her eyes were open. She seemed like she was just staring at the ceiling, but she didn't seem sad or anything. I approached the bed, and she smiled as I knelt down next to her.

* * *

"Hey," Auron said, grabbing my hand yet again. He slowly unraveled the bandage on it, and dropped it to the floor. It felt good to have real air on my hand again.

"Hi, I'm feeling pretty good actually," I said. I could move around more than I could this morning and it seemed like it only hurt this morning. I could turn my head, move my arms, and almost get up. That had started to hurt, like a little knot in my back was painful.

"I'll help you up. Rin told me to get you out of these bandages when you were awake," he said, and I blushed. I wasn't really wearing anything underneath the bandages. And I haven't showered in six days. SIX DAYS! I can't let him do that…I mean, it's not right. This isn't how I pictured it!

"O…Okay…" I said, and he began pulling the bandages off. Pulling is the wrong word, I guess. Tenderly removing the bandages with the most care possible. I felt the cool air up to my shoulders, and up to my knees. Auron stood up, blushing himself. He realized what would happen like I had a little bit ago.

"So…" he started, and I blushed along with him. I knew I had underwear on, so I turned around to have my back to him.

"Just keep going," I said, and smiled wickedly. It was fine, we had slept together, well not slept together, but you know what I mean. Stupid brain, perverted machine.

I felt him slowly pull bandages from around my middle, pulling them in front of me and back. I never realized how long his arms were, until he could un-wrap a bandage from around my middle without turning me around.

I blushed a deeper crimson when I heard the bandage drop onto the ground beside me, leaving me with just a few bandages around my legs. I crossed my arms across my chest, and leaned back into him. He wasn't wearing his coat, I could tell that much. I could also tell it surprised him by the way the breath seemed to get knocked out of him and how he jumped a little bit.

I pulled his arms around my waist and re-crossed my arms, laying my head back against his shoulder so I could look up at him. I just smiled, and his face beamed too. It was so comfortable to be where I was, not awkward at all like I always thought it would be. Me being scantily clad, desperately in need of a shower, and covered in healing scrapes, cuts, and burns, him just holding me close. It was like a dream, if albeit a little different than I had always hoped. But he was here still, and that was really what mattered.

I stood up on my tippy toes, and he bent down so I could kiss him. Even thought it hadn't felt like five days, I had missed his lips. He kissed me on the lips, and then on the top of my head which was probably gross but he did it anyways.

"I need a shower," I said, and he just smiled and nodded. I elbowed him in the ribs a little bit and laughed. "You aren't supposed to agree with me."

"I am truly sorry," he said, and left the room cackling.

"Stupid men…" I said and walked towards the bathroom attached to my room, which included running water. Rin was famous for it, as far as Al Bhed was concerned. As soon as it was discovered, he had built his own and installed it in some of his agencies. He had gotten this one working with pops help less than two months ago, I think.

I pulled off the last of the bandages and the little clothing I was wearing, and stepped into the most glorious shower known to Spira. The soap was Lavender, I think. I was never good at knowing what soaps smelled like, unless it was grease. But this soap smelled good though and was extremely refreshing.

I noticed my normally pretty tan arms were slowly returning to that, but were still pink from the salves on the cuts and burns. The slash across my chest was a fading pink, like it hadn't even been there. There wasn't any swelling or anything on my face, and my right half wasn't numb anymore. It had been, for a while when I was awake, but it was okay right now.

I turned in the shower, the water cascading from my shoulders down to my ankles and it pooled on the floor. It felt weird though, somewhere in the center of my back. Different than how I remember, not that I consciously remember how a shower feels, but it felt weird. I reached my hand up, and found a small circle in my back of weird feeling skin. Like a scar or something. Must have been where the fireball hit me maybe. But…it felt ugly.

I climbed out of the shower, dried off, and walked back into the actual room itself. I found the bag on the foot of my bed, and pulled out a new set of clothes. The other ones are probably gone forever, but at least I brought extras with me. I noticed it was harder to bend far at the back to put on socks, but other than that I felt pretty good.

I walked down the stairs, and found Auron and Rin talking at a table over a couple glasses of some kind of beer. I smiled, and Rin got up and ran back to the kitchen. Food did sound delicious as my stomach rumbled. I sat down next to Auron, and he slid his arm around me and smiled.

* * *

"Feeling better?" I asked, a huge weight lifting off of me seeing her walk down the stairs. She looked beautiful, like she always did, but the last time I saw her without the bandages was when she was bleeding in my arms, so everything is relative.

She sat next to me, and I threw my arm around her, glad to have her down here. She looked a little gaunt, like she hadn't had enough food. That would change before we left, that was for sure. I couldn't leave her here, I had decided. She meant too much to me, and I couldn't leave her here if I had wanted to I think.

Rin returned with a bowl of stew and some bread, the same I had eaten before, with a glass of water. She didn't need any alcohol at this time, that was for sure. I probably did if we were going to continue story time any time soon. She grabbed the spoon and shoveled it into her mouth as if she hadn't eaten in years. I just smiled and she was munching down the bread when she turned up to me with a grin on her face. If you could call it a grin, her cheeks were packed like a chipmunk so it was hard to tell.

"So, how are you feeling little Rikku?" Rin asked her. He had called her that as long as I could remember. I remembered how excited Rin had been when he got the message that Cid had had his daughter, and since that day she had been little Rikku.

"Good, I think. I don't really remember anything after I was hit by a fireball I think," she said in between bites of bread. She had been unconscious the whole ride here at least. Had she been awake I'm sure it would have been much more painful.

"I was quite surprised at your condition. Broken ribs, both arms broken, innumerable cuts and gashes, the burns, your swollen face…it was really bad. But you look just as pretty as normal now," Rin said with a grin, and Rikku looked shocked. She didn't know the extent of her own injuries, I guessed. Never thought it was that bad.

"Really? Then how did we get here?" She asked, and it was my turn to smile.

"We'll go see in a little bit when you let some of that food settle," I said, and she looked up. Her food was gone, but she hadn't eaten real food in a while, so it was best to let it settle a little bit at least. We sat and talked about random things like a few of the things we would need for the trip, and then I stood up.

"Time to go meet your savior," I said and grinned, and she had no idea why. Nobody would have thought me to befriend a Chocobo. Even Rin had laughed at me the other day for it; I had hated riding them around for Bevelle back in the day. I had needed healing then too when I thought about it.

We walked outside and towards the stables, hand in hand. She leaned into me as we walked, and I didn't mind at all. She just wanted to, I think, not because she was having problems. We entered the stable, and I think that Kelvin just could tell we had come because he began to 'wark' loudly and run in circles.

"What about Kelvin?" she asked, petting the bird. It looked extremely happy to see her, making cooing noises now that she was back and walking around.

"He carried us from the site to here in a night, without stopping," I said, and he looked happy at me.

"Wow, I didn't know they could do that. And I never thought I'd see you be happy with a Chocobo," she said and laughed at me, lightly elbowing me in the ribs. I never thought I would either, I guess. At least she was in higher spirits. We stood out there for a few minutes petting and talking to and about the Chocobo. It was happy with the attention, but Rikku started to get goose bumps from the chilly autumn air.

"Alright Kelvin, I'm cold, we'll be back tomorrow," Rikku said, and led me out of the stable. I knew she was getting tired already, and I followed her up to the room we shared. I was remarkably tired as well, worrying about her takes far more out of me than I had ever realized. Maybe that was a good thing, though.

"I'm going to brush my teeth and change, be right back," Rikku said, and left into the bathroom. I stripped down and got back into the chair. The bed wasn't exactly huge, I have to say. Must be a room for single people, I guess. I covered myself with my coat, and closed my eyes.

I didn't know how long I had my eyes closed, but Rikku shook me awake. I was a bit more tired than I had thought. I looked up, and she was wearing one of my t shirts, which was far too large for her. It hung below her waist, but above her knees.

"You aren't sleeping in the chair, mister," she said, and dragged me to me feet. She threw me at the bed. I scooted over, and she snuggled up next to me. I pulled the blanket over the both of us and draped my arm over her, where it felt like it belonged. I was so happy that I had fallen in love with her, and that I had gotten sent back, that she was here with me.

"I love you Auron," she said sleepily, already slipping into the realm of dreams.

"I love you too, Rikku," I said quietly next to her ear. She seemed to smile and become much more content, wriggling as close as she could before falling to sleep. I kissed her lightly on the head, breathing in the Lavender before letting myself fall to sleep as well. I didn't care if I ever woke up, as long as she was with me.

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**Fun to write :) Thanks for reading, review if you feel like it, keep coming back!! **


	6. Crimson Gagazet

**Alright...I owe all of you readers a really really huge apology for this taking so long. Met somebody amazing, thats all. This chappy is kinda short, but it ended where I wanted it to, so no complaints there. I'm already working on the next chapter, and I promise it will never take this long again!**

**I guess I didn't realize how many people liked this story until bhfirewife sent me an email asking me to never give up on it. And I won't, so this chapter is dedicated to her :)**

**Note: Don't own it, never will. 'Nuff said.**

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* * *

****Chapter Six: Crimson Gagazet**

I awoke slowly, feeling Auron lying beside me, breathing slowly. When I finally opened my eyes I was almost staring at the floor. The bed wasn't really big enough for the both of us and Auron's arm was probably the only thing still holding me in the bed. A slow grin crept across my face, but I didn't move. I didn't want to, not ever.

I don't know how long more the two of us laid there; I kept dozing in and out of sleep. I finally actually woke up when I felt Auron move around a bunch. I knew he was awake, he flipped onto his back and I rested my head on his chest.

"How long have you been awake?" Auron said softly. It was the voice he only used when he was talking to me. All the other times he was big scary Auron when he was dealing with people, but with me, he was…my Auron.

"I dunno, a while I suppose," I said, and my head bobbed up and down as he chuckled.

"How are you feeling?" he asked me and I just hugged him tighter. I was okay now, thanks to him.

"Really good! I wanna go out and do something!" I said excitedly. I had like a week's worth of energy now that I was feeling better. I hadn't moved far in as many days, and if it didn't get out soon I might explode.

"We can do that, Kelvin needs to get out too," Auron mused. I noticed his fingers slowly running their way through my hair over and over again; it sent tingles down my spine. Those hands were so hard so much of his life, gripping only the sword. They seemed to change for me, into a soft touch, a loving touch.

"Yay!" I said, and hugged him tighter. As I did, the blanket slid slowly down towards our feet. And then I started blushing…he wasn't wearing anything but boxers, and me pretty much only a t shirt. It wasn't really a big deal, but I still couldn't stop the crimson in my cheeks. Auron just laughed and hugged me. It didn't help a whole lot, to be honest.

Just as I thought I could quit blushing, he started tickling me. Pops was the only one who knew I was ticklish and he didn't do anything about it since I was able to fight back. Auron was as strong or stronger than Pops was though, and I couldn't quite get away. I was giggling so loud, squealing almost, and Auron just wouldn't stop. Tears started forming in my eyes as he just kept tickling me. I was kicking and punching trying to get away, but the bed seemed so much bigger than before and I couldn't get away.

And then, he just stopped, holding my wrists above my head. I felt suddenly vulnerable, vulnerable and blushy. He leaned in close, and as soon as his lips touched mine I was lost in him. I kissed him back just as hard, and the cute, loving kiss turned into something much more frenzied.

His grip on my wrists lessened, and in an instant I snaked my arms out to wrap around his neck, pulling him close. Our lips were locked, each trying to become one with the other, devouring each other's souls.

Seconds passed like minutes, minutes like hours. Lost in him, time didn't even matter. I had finally found my place. Here.

As an unsent, I didn't really have feelings. I had the mission, what needed to be done. I was so concentrated on keeping the pyreflies inside that I didn't care about the outside. No hunger, no tiring, ever and ever moving to fulfill the mission. But now…now it was different.

I had a purpose in life, something other than a mission. And it felt like…nothing had ever felt before. Red butterflies in my stomach, bliss in my head, and uncontrollable shaking in my limbs. I had stared down the most fearsome creatures in my life and walked away unfazed, I had watched my entire foundation crumble to the ground and I walked away unfazed. But when I saw her like that, I felt destroyed. I would have switched places with her in an instant, not because I wanted to disappear like I had wanted before, but because she doesn't deserve the pain. Because she was…everything to me.

I broke the kiss we shared, the seeming hour's long kiss that I didn't even want to end, to look into her eyes. Those green orbs beamed back up to me, and I felt that I could see into her soul, and I think I saw the same feelings in her.

"What's wrong?" she asked quietly, fear flaring in her eyes.

"I love you my little thief, that's all," I said quietly, kissing her again on the lips this time, breaking it before it lost control again.

"Okay," she said simply, her eyes returning again to the shimmering green they had been before. "I love you too, Auron."

I lay again on my back next to her. I realized how much bigger than her I was, her body so small and frail compared to my large, scarred self. What she saw in me for all this time, I will never know. But I did know that I would make sure I would be what she wanted me to be, to be there for her now.

I lay there, lost in my thoughts about her, when she just seemed to pop out of nowhere and land on my chest. She fit so…perfectly. So little, so…perfect. That's the only thing I can use to describe her. I saw a slight blush grace her gentle cheeks, and she slowly wriggled to my ear.

"I love you, Auron," she said again, and I think those will be the only words that will make my heart flip every time I hear them.

"I love you too, Rikku," I said, and I could feel her giggle a little bit.

"Good, that's what I wanted to hear," she said, and wriggled back down to where she was again before sitting up, effectively straddling me above my waist line.

"Rikku, Wha…" was all I got out before my throat caught as she slowly pulled her shirt over her head.

"Shh…" was all she said as she leaned back into me, grabbing my wrists and pinning them above me in this seemed reverse of roles.

The minute I felt her skin on mine, pins and needles shot across my skin where mine touched hers, like flames dancing; never ceasing their slow fiery crawl to where her lips met mine. I was floating in another world, a place of ecstasy and bliss, no feeling in it but her. For a moment, just a moment, I realized what was going on, and it was all I needed to stop her.

"Are you sure about this?" I asked, seeing the disappointment on her face. It didn't feel like I had done her right, enough for this. Her head again lowered to my ear, light whispers escaping her mouth.

"Auron, I love you, and yes, this is what I want," she said quietly, and those dancing flames started to catch and burn, from tendrils of flame to raging infernos.

"Okay," I whispered. I didn't think I could have said anything else if I had wanted to.

"And Auron?" she asked quietly, but I could hear the mischievous Rikku voice I had come to adore creeping into her.

"Yes?"

"I'm a big girl; you don't have to be so gentle."

Auron and I walked hand in hand, Kelvin running out in front of us. We walked towards the Calm Lands. I had wanted to get rid of some of my energy by going outside, but I think most of that energy was gone now. And just thinking about that made me blush and grip his hand tighter. He looked down at me and smiled, letting my hand go and his arm slipping around my waist.

It was almost sunset in the Calm Lands, we had come out here just to watch it. We sat and laid back on a hill, staring into the distance, towards Zanarkand. Kelvin just ran around like a Chocobo does, a random 'wark' being heard every once in a while.

My usual self seemed non-existant, the energy filled, and spunky, feisty thief being replaced by something different, something much calmer. I just snuggled close to him on the hill, his arm my pillow. I didn't need to be what I was anymore, the crazy Al Bhed that everyone knew. I could be the calmer, less decisive, less entertaining person now, and Auron didn't care. It felt…amazing. And that's all I can say about that, really.

The sunset was beautiful, the sun setting slowly behind the mountains of Gagazet in the distance, swirling clouds of pinks, reds, and oranges cradling a deep orange ball of fire. As the sun disappeared, Mount Gagazet shone with a crimson halo that made the mountain look like it was on fire.

Auron and I were silent; there wasn't really a need for words to be spoken right now. Him holding me watching the brilliance of nature; with that, there weren't any words needed. As dark began to descend quickly, Auron sat up slowly, pulling me up too. The Calm Lands were still anything but calm, fiends coming out at night for whatever it was that they did. We were a long ways from the Agency, though.

"Kellllllllvin!" I yelled, and the Chocobo shot out of nowhere, stopping right in front of the two of us standing there, a cloud of dust and blades of grass following his hasty stop.

"Wark?"

"Wanna give us a ride?" I asked the Chocobo and petted his face, and his little beady eyes seemed to get a charge of sorts, and he knelt down for us to board him. Auron helped me on first, and climbed aboard himself. The Chocobo seemed happy to be giving us a ride again, and he trotted slowly back to the Agency.

Auron's arms enveloped me again, to shield me against the coming cold. It would be winter soon enough, the trees were already starting to change colors. I would need to talk to Rin about a change of wardrobe, the skimpy desert attire I had would just lead me to freeze my nipples off. And I know Auron wouldn't like that. My face turned the color of Gagazet on fire, but Auron was behind me and he couldn't see. And it was kind of dark. But not as dark as my face, either.

Kelvin let us off in front of the Agencies doors, and walked back to the stable without any guidance. I don't think I'll ever understand that bird.

We walked inside and straight up the steps to our room. We ate right before we left the agency a few hours ago, and I wasn't really back to the same appetite I had had before this whole thing. I still didn't feel as good as I did, but it would only be a matter of days. Auron said we could stay as long as we needed too; we weren't in any big hurry. Which seemed strange, for Auron at least.

I went into the bathroom and changed into more comfortable sleeping clothing, consisting of a t shirt of Auron's and a pair of underwear, and when I came back out, Auron was waiting for me. Holding the blankets up so I could sneak in and snuggle close; the whole time him just smiling. Now that he was…real, I guess, he smiled a lot more. He was the person I saw back on the pilgrimage now; he didn't have to be the rock or the shoulder. He could just be the Auron he had always wanted to be, free of duty.

I snuggled as close as possible, his arm draping around me protectively. I don't think I could sleep any better than I did like this, so comforting, so…peaceful. There wasn't anywhere else in the world I would rather be. It took about thirty seconds for my eyes to shut and my breathing to become regular, and I slipped again into the world of dreams.

**Alright, there it is. I hope you enjoyed it :) I might have the next chapter out by Sunday, but I promise it will be out before Halloween because I'll be a bit busier that weekend. The fun of being a college student :) Alright, if you feel like it, review! There's only one thing that makes me happier than seeing a review email in my inbox! Thanks again!**


	7. Fleeing the Scene

**Alright. First things first. I apologize as deeply as I can to all the people who liked this story and have read it, reviewed or not. I, for some reason unknowingly, tried to kind of re-prioritize things. And failed. This is kind of my way of venting, thinking happy thoughts, and all that stuff. So again I apologize, I swear upon whichever book you want me to that this won't happen again. I mean, I said before Holloween for jeebuz sake! If you don't like me anymore and don't want to read or review, I totally understand :)**

**Anyways, the real AN starts now! I liked that last review I got, really in depth. Kinda what I need! If there are any complaints or advices (SP? Advices? Advicees? I give up lol) just let me know so I can work on it, or explain something like how I see it. Thanks a lot for waiting folks, it means a lot if any of you still read this :)**

**This chapter's dedication is split between two folks, bhfirewife for the words of encouragement (i know that was a while ago lol) and Silver Charm, for the encouragement and the reminder that I have something to work on :)  
**

**Note: No, I don't own it. But yes, you can pay me for royalties :p**

* * *

**Chapter 7: Fleeing the Scene**

The next few days passed like a breeze, Rikku, Kelvin, and I laughing and enjoying ourselves while Rikku got back to her normal self. Her appetite had returned, as had her energy. I had finally opened up those books for some reading, not discovering much else that would help too much. We knew the general direction we were heading in, and that was good enough, for now.

We had to get all of our supplies together, food, a new tent, and winter clothing. Rin always kept a stock at his northern Agencies for winter travel for people like us, who hadn't thought in advance. Who knew if it would fit well, but it's better to be warm than for it to fit right on us.

"Ahhh, good afternoon Sir Auron, Little Rikku," Rin said, sweeping down the stairs with a flourish only the Al Bhed man knew. He always had that swagger to his step, the foreign way of speech and mannerisms that somehow always had women swooning over him. It had proven advantageous to him when getting girls back to the barracks all those years ago.

"Morning Rin," I nodded, and he just smiled.

"Getting supplies then, and heading out so soon?" Rin asked, and Rikku nodded like her head was going to flow off.

"I'm feelin' good as new! Thanks a lot Rin!" Rikku said and the man smiled. He did that a lot, too.

"Good to hear. I'll show you to the supply of winter clothes we have, I don't know if any of it will fit the two of you, but we'll try," Rin said, and motioned for us to follow him outside and into another building.

We walked inside, and it was a supply warehouse of sorts. Anything he would need to sell was here, along with some machina in the back to tinker on when he had free time, I suppose. If he had any free time, being the biggest merchant in Spira certainly had its draw backs.

"Search through the boxes and take what you need. I'll be back in the other building, a large party is coming this way, I need to be in the agency when they arrive," Rin drawled, and took his leave.

Rikku and I pulled box after box down, trying to find things to keep warm. My coat would help me considerably, but a thicker pair of gloves would be in order and maybe some warmer long underwear as well.

Rikku's pile was growing slowly, and I had found nothing. I wasn't picky about it, never had been, but I was looking for very specific things too. After an hour of searching through several boxes, I had found a good pair of Chocobo down gloves and a couple pairs of good thick socks. I had always thought that I looked ridiculous wearing a hat, but Rikku had insisted on me taking one, just in case.

"I think I'm done," Rikku said, staring at her pile of clothing. With that much stuff, we would have to leave behind all we had in the bag already. Rin would take care of it, I already knew that. We would be in the North for a while, so maybe that was a good thing. I had a pair of gloves, a hat, and socks. Enough for me, at least. I already had a coat too.

"Me too, let's get these boxes back in place and go talk to Rin," I said. We carefully refolded the tops of the boxes closed and put them back on the shelves we had pulled them from. I grabbed my things, and most of Rikku's, and we headed out of the building.

It was a beautiful day, the leaves in the trees flashing any number of colors and a slight breeze. I don't think I'll ever understand how Rikku wasn't cold right now, it couldn't have been more than sixty degrees out, but she didn't complain. In two weeks, it would be less than forty on a day like today. The Calm Lands were prone to severe winds in the winter, and we would need all the thick clothing we could get to stay warm.

We didn't see the group of people Rin had talked about, so we walked up to our room, and laid all the clothing out on the bed. It would all fit in the bag, barely. But it would work out.

"I'll take care of this!" Rikku said excitedly, and in about thirty seconds the bag was empty and the room was trashed. I just smiled and sighed, and sat down in the chair.

"Well, I'm going to go get us some other supplies, have fun," I said and she just smiled.

"Alright, I'll be here," Rikku said, and I walked back down stairs to look for Rin.

I didn't see him anywhere, so I walked outside and looked for him there. Still nowhere to be seen, so I walked back into the warehouse to see if I could find the things I needed for myself. I walked between shelves, searching for the things I needed. I quickly found the section of food labeled 'travel rations'.

'Travel rations' consist of dried meat, hard bread, and fruit. Fruit kept longer than vegetables usually, and the rest was self explanatory. I grabbed a nearby bag and filled it to the brim with food, I didn't know how long it would be until we had a chance to restock. And…fiend stew just didn't sound very good anymore, after that last pilgrimage and the many failed cooking attempts. But Tidus wasn't cooking this time. I sealed the bag, and threw it over my shoulder and kept moving. I still needed to find a new tent.

A half hour later and after a frustrated sigh or two, I found the tents on the bottom shelf of a large shelf in the back. I just grabbed one based on the size of the bag it was in, a medium one, and headed out. I had got what I came back for, but as I passed a shelf on my way out something caught my eye.

Rin had never been fond of fighting, or weapons in general, but there was a fairly large rack of weapons against one wall. I remembered that I had left Rikku's claw and targe behind, and she would need something for the rest of the journey.

I set the tent and the bag down, and looked over them. With a trained eye and hand, I hefted a half dozen and looked over even more before I settled on one. A long, slender blade; all silver with black engraving and hints of black everywhere else. It would be light enough for her, she wasn't the strongest person in the world, and it would work well. I would just have to teach her how to use it. Rin didn't exactly cater to the 'Rikku' type of fighters.

I grabbed a plain shield, something Rikku could work with. She had the knack for working on arms, and increasing their usefulness, and it would give her something to do when we were on break for the day. I picked up everything again and carried it again into the agency. Rin was still gone, which seemed strange, but I just hauled it all up into the room.

I walked in and Rikku was just zipping up the bulging bag, having just finished packing everything into it. I set the stuff down on the bed next to the bag. She raised her eyebrow at the sword though.

"I'll teach you to use it, your claw and targe are still back in the forest," I said, and she nodded.

"No better teacher, right?" Rikku said, nudging me. I could tell something was wrong though, she seemed nervous. I could read her like a book if I needed to.

"What's wrong?" I asked, and she looked truly afraid.

"You know how Rin said he had a group to meet? Yeah…about that…its pops. I guess he's lookin' for me," she said, and I just smiled.

"How do you feel?" I asked, and she just stared at me. Like I had just ignored terrible news.

"Wha…? I feel fine, 100%" she said, and I smiled.

"Then let's just get out of here before he gets here, if you are that worried," I smirked, and she just laughed.

"You are starting to think like me! Let's go!" she said, rapidly putting all of our other belongings in a neat stack on the folded bed. She had been busy while I was gone, it seemed. She opened the bag back up and peeled 10,000 gil off of it and laid it on top. She ran around trying to find a pad of paper and scrawled a hasty note to put underneath the money, and then she turned to me.

She threw her arms around me, her almost standing on her tippy toes.

"I love you," she said, and I bent down to kiss her.

"I love you too," I said, and she smiled.

"Then let's blow this joint!" she almost yelled and laughed. We grabbed the bag, the bag of food, and everything else, and almost sauntered out of the Agency to the stables.

"Kelvin!" I yelled, and the bird appeared out of nowhere. Good thing he could hop those fences. As Rikku started setting Kelvin up and talking to him, I ran back into the storage shed, searching furiously for a needle and thread. I totally forgot about it, and I would need to make loops so Rikku's sword wasn't just out in the open the whole time, and in case some of our clothing got torn up. I found it far faster than I found the tent and I ran back to the Chocobo and Rikku. She was sitting aboard, the two of them waiting for me.

"We should really get gooooing!" Rikku said, pointing in the distance. I could see something that resembled an apple on a man's body, presumably Cid's face in anger. I laughed to myself, and climbed aboard Kelvin.

I turned back and I could make out a little more, like the image of Cid dragging Rin by what looked like the neck towards us. He was definitely not a happy camper at the moment. I slapped Kelvin's hind quarters, and he took off towards the Calm Lands. Cid and the rest of them grew into smaller and smaller black specks, until Kelvin turned and they disappeared.

"We got away," I whispered into her ear, and she slumped against me. Cid would definitely not be happy with me the next time we met. But that wasn't today, so it wasn't meant to be worried about.

* * *

Rin had come in and told me Pops was coming when Auron was gone. I was like a madwomen, cleaning and packing in a hurry. Pops would just complicate things, and I didn't want that. And here we are, riding by Chocobo back, working our way across the Calm Lands. I was still wearing my skimpy clothes, and the biting wind was very evident. Tomorrow I would pack these away, pulling out my more decent cold weather clothing.

I held the sword in my lap, with no other place to put it. It really was beautiful; black and silver, really slender. It wasn't heavy by any means, that's for sure. The shield was nondescript, something I could work on in the nights I had nothing to do. It was gonna take a while to get wherever we were going.

Kelvin trotted happily, his same jogging pace bringing us ever closer to our destination, if we ever found it.

* * *

We took a couple of breaks throughout the day, the sun shining brightly on us in the Calm Lands. They were huge, and it would take at least a week to cross the whole thing probably, depending on when we took breaks and things like that. It was boring, really. We didn't talk at all, and the Calm Lands were the furthest thing from interesting it could be. All big and flat and boring. Even sand is more exciting than this. I had only gone across it a few times, each with a sadness. Not now,

The sun began its slow decent again towards Gagazet, and Auron stopped Kelvin. The Chocobo almost seemed surprised, he just wanted to keep going. I didn't realize that my entire lower half was numb until Auron helped me down, and my knees went all rubbery. I fell flat on my face, but I could feel that.

"The ground is…really hard," I managed to mumble. I couldn't even get up, my legs were numb!

"That it is," was all Auron said and he picked up a couple bags off of Kelvin so the Chocobo could go run around or something.

"You big meanie!" I yelled at him, and he just laughed at me and started putting our new tent together. He was way better at putting this one together, I think. He wasn't cursing at least.

The feeling in my legs slowly returned until it got to the point where it was all tingly if my legs moved an inch, kinda like pins and needles. I always hated that feeling, and all I could do about it was laugh.

By the time I had gotten myself off the ground, the tent was up and our stuff was inside. Auron was still laughing to himself, and I punched him as I went to stand next to him. He looked rather proud of himself for putting the tent up. He was a guy, after all. He still couldn't touch my mechanical skills, he would make an Al Bhed man ashamed with his lack of machina knowledge. But that's okay, that's what I was here for.

"So what are we gonna do for fire?" I asked, realizing that the Calm Lands didn't have any wood. Or trees, or anything but knee high grass and boring.

He just smiled, and threw the black sword at me. I caught it by the handle somehow and glared at him with my much practiced 'freeze-where-you-stand' look I got from my mother. And he had the guts to just laugh again. Men were so infuriating sometimes, I just wanted to tackle him and put him in his place. And what place is that? Underneath me, me on top? I quickly shut off that train of thoughts.

Auron slowly took off his coat and laid it on the ground outside of the tent. His bracer shone in the fading sunlight, the one I had made for him on the pilgrimage. He tossed me the shield, and I slipped it on without a problem. It felt too large though, I was used to the targes, smaller and lighter. But it wasn't that big of a deal.

"So…what now?" I asked, slightly confused. Fighting Auron was like…playing tennis against a wall. You can't win, not ever.

"Try and hit me," he said and grinned. Gods, his grinning made me angry. So happy, so confident. I would show him!

I swung the sword clumsily; it felt unnatural for some reason. I mean I had used one of these a few times before back in Home, but it had been a long time. I hadn't wanted to try and hit Auron with it, either.

"Haha, is that all you got?" Auron chuckled, and I swung again. And again, and again. He never seemed to move, his arms flicking his blade up to parry at the last possible moment. It just made me more and more angry, and I swung harder and faster than I even thought possible. The longer we went, the more mad I got.

I never got any closer to hitting him, either. At one point, he just threw his Masamune aside, and used his bracer to block everything. Stabs, slashes, anything I tried he just deftly blocked, grinned, and I tried again. Kelvin had long since returned from his forages, and just lay down in the grass by the tent, watching and staring at us intently.

I was getting tired fast too; my arms were both tired, along with the rest of my body. There was a lot more motion and balance involved with a sword as compared to a claw, and it showed I wasn't used to this kind of thing. Auron must have sensed this somehow, because on one swing where I tried just a little too hard, he just stepped out of the way like it was no big deal and threw his arm over my shoulder.

"I think we are done for the day," he said and grinned. I dropped the sword and socked him a good one in the side, and that infuriatingly happy laugh permeated my anger.

"Fine," I said, and stomped off, leaving the sword and shield for Auron to pick up, and entering the tent. The activity had made me stay warm and even sweat a bit, but now that I stopped moving it was freezing cold. Time to pull out the winter clothes.

I hated wearing winter clothes. Felt restricting and binding. But better to be covered, then have frostbite claim everything I have I suppose. I slipped on a nice sweater filled with Chocobo down and a pair of pants, and went to leave the tent.

"Mind if I join you?" Auron asked and smiled, handing me a bunch of food. The tent was larger than our last one by a pretty large margin, and we had all of our stuff on one side, our sleeping area on the other, and room enough to sit in the middle without bothering that stuff.

"Fine," I said, and mowed through my food faster than a starving Chocobo eater in a room full of birds. I was hungry and tired, and it felt well deserved, after what that big meanie put me through.

We ate in silence, or rather he did at least. My food was already gone, and I just rolled back to lay on the floor of our tent, patting my belly in satisfaction. I remembered our last trip through the calm lands. Fiend stew would never be the same, not after Tidus got a hold of it. I shuddered at the thought, and closed my eyes.

* * *

I sat there on the tent floor, finishing up the little bit of food I had given myself. We weren't going to be able to get more for some time, so I could ration myself better than she could, so I figured I would take the short end of the stick on the rations. I didn't mind, I still wasn't fully used to eating yet anyways.

The next few days I planned on shorter days with more sword play, and then after that press into the mountains. We would be to Remiem in three or so days, and then we would pick up the pace. At least that's what I got out of those books, they just happened to be written in the most obscure way possible. It can't just give a map and directions, noooooo, it had to be written in prose by some hopeless romantic five hundred years ago. Such luck, who would have guessed.

"How you feeling, sunshine?" I asked of Rikku, and she opened her eyes to look up at me and smile.

"Pretty good, actually. I'm real tired though," Rikku said lightly, already dreamy. The Sun was falling pretty rapidly, winter days being pretty short unless you got up at around five thirty, which was daybreak.

"Well go to sleep then, Rikku, I'll be in after a while," I said, and she nodded.

"I love you Auron," she said sleepily, turning her back to me and changing quickly. She crawled under the covers, and was asleep as her head hit the pillow.

"I love you too, Sunshine," I said quietly as not to wake her, and exited the tent.

* * *

I stood alone several yards from the entrance to the tent, the Masamune resting point down with the hilt in my hands. I stared towards Gagazet and beyond, at peace in the silence, save the rustling of grasses in the brisk wind. I realized I actually was at peace for once. All the times I had crossed this sea of grass had been with grim consequences, the weight of the world on my mind. But now, I had peace, and it was wonderful.

The Sun sank behind the mountains quickly, the crimson fire spreading and retreating as fast as it had appeared. Darkness spread quickly as well, starting at the base of Mt. Gagazet, quickly approaching where we were located and beyond. One peak, however, stayed lit for a time longer than any other place. This mountain top was still faintly illuminated until the darkness was encompassing everything, then it blinked out like a light was shut off.

I thought about it, why would one mountain stay lit over the others? For some reason I thought of the temples I was supposed to be visiting. I reached my hand into the tent and pulled out the old leather bound volume that I had read about this temple in before, to see if there was anything else I could get out of it.

I read aloud "_The Temple of Alpha, which is the temple of Light, is located to the East. It resides in the Southern portion of the Gagazet Mountains known simply as The Beginning. To reach it most easily, simply go almost directly East-North-East of Remiem Temple, which is located on the Eastern side of the Calm Lands. The path is no longer well groomed, but it was accessible when I traveled there to write of it in this book_."

Nothing new there, it was just as how I read it before. I flipped to the next page, and read through the temple of dark or whatever, and something at the end stuck out as different. The handwriting was a bit different, like it was a different kind of pen or something. I hadn't read through this far into this temple before, but I continued on.

_"An easy way to find your way to the Temples of Alpha and Omega is to watch the Gagazet Mountains. The Highest peak in the East will be the first to shine in the morning, the last to lose its luster in the evening. The highest peak in the West will be just the opposite, darkening first in the evening, and staying dark until the end in the morning. I found this out after I had traveled to both of these temples, and it would have helped greatly in my search of them in the first place."_

My jaw crinkled into a broad grin. Luck favors the observant, or so they say. I'll have to tell Rikku in the morning, she'll be excited. I grabbed her sword and shield, and my Masamune, and brought them to the tent. The dark brought out fiends, and some fiends just wanted to take shiny things with them, not actually kill or hurt. Better to be safe than sorry, I suppose.

Kelvin had already curled up next to the tent, sitting or laying on the ground, whatever birds did with their legs folded underneath them. I entered the tent, laid the weapons off to the far side where no one could roll into them, and stripped down for bed. I laid my coat over the weapons, and left my pants and shirt near the same place.

It was damn chilly, without clothes. Guess I didn't realize it, or something. I started crawling into the bed I had made up, and ran into Rikku parts wherever I went. She was sprawled out everywhere, arms and legs taking up every inch of possible space. I slowly moved one leg over, then an arm, hoping not to wake her up.

"Auron, nnoooooooooo…" she mumbled quietly.

"Rikku you have to move over so I can get in the bed," I said quietly, and she slowly moved over, gathering her limbs into a little curled ball on her side. I crawled into the bed and slid up behind her. I wrapped my arms around her protectively as she snuggled into me as tightly as she could.

She felt kind of cold, her body almost shivering at being pressed against me. I couldn't tell if that meant she was getting warm or if I was cold, but the shivering stopped and she tried to snuggle closer, even though there wasn't any room to get any closer. I laid my head down on the pillow next to hers and closed my eyes. She still smelled like flowers, lilac or lavender or something like that, something beautiful.

For another consecutive night, I fell to sleep with a smile on my face. I was getting used to this now, and I never would want anything else again.

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**Alright, I hope you enjoyed it, cuz this mushy lovey dovey stuff won't be going on much longer. *insert evil laugh* Anyways, sorry again for the wait, and you can know that it won't ever take 29 days ever again, I promise. K, I'm out, R&R if you want, peace!**


	8. The Approach

**So, yet again I failed at updating in a reasonable length of time. But I've got some stuff worked out now, and the next chapter isn't just fluff and travel. Hardcore awesomeness if you ask me, I mean, I'm already writing it. Can't take too long, right? This chapter is a bit on the short side for my taste and probably yours, but the next one is much longer, almost already is. So just bear with me for a bit longer. Enjoy and review if you want to, even if you hated it. But I don't think people would read this far if it sucked, right?  
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**Special thanks to evilblanket for reminding me to write something, I'm glad you enjoy it. And to KathleenDee, for being the awesomest woman on the planet, hands down.**

**Note: I don't own this, like normal. Don't own much, besides some worthless school books and debt. And my amazingness and genius :)**

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****Chapter Eight: The Approach**

I awoke again to the squirming of an Al Bhed princess in my arms, a smile already gracing my face. I felt like I did when I was much younger, at home, at peace. The tough, grisly exterior now gone around her, I was a normal person again. It was odd; I had been the stoic warrior for so long that this felt strange, like I moved back in time. It was just how I had always wanted to be before all of the summoner business had started.

"Good morning Sunshine," I said quietly and she turned around and smiled, kissing my nose.

"Good morning Auron. What's the plan for today?" Rikku said amidst a long yawn and more squirming.

"I figured it out, where we are going. We should get up though, get moving," I said, not wanting to get up either. But we had to get moving, the sooner we get this done the sooner we could settle down and stop running all over Spira.

"You did? Well I suppose we should. I'm all sore today you meanie," Rikku said sitting up. She stretched again and I sat up as well. It was comfortable in the tent, it was pretty big and it was just a little on the cold side, the way I like it.

I found we didn't need to talk much either, we just understood each other. A glance or a smile and I knew what she needed or wanted. It was kind of odd, well not odd … just right.

I reached over into the bag and pulled out some food and split it between us, making sure she got more than me without her noticing. She was working far harder than she was used to, and I could go without food for days if need be. Or I used to be able to, who knows now. No worries about that though, not yet.

I watched as Rikku slowly stood up, her head grazing the ceiling. She pulled the long t shirt off without a thought and dug into our bag for clothing. She didn't really understand what she was doing to me though, as she just bent over to dig farther into the bag. I kept my mouth shut and thought of other things, or tried to at least.

When she was finally dressed she got out of the tent and I went to get dressed myself. I joined her outside; she was bundling up with some of the other clothes she had grabbed. She finally decided to pull out the winter clothes, the long sleeves and everything else. I smiled and kissed her cheek before starting to get ready for leaving. I pulled our stuff from in the tent and began disassembling it, which didn't take long. This tent was far easier to use than our last one.

I packed the tent into the bag and turned around to see Rikku playing with Kelvin. They both seemed to be in high spirits, as I am. Another good day, or at least I hope.

* * *

The ride was much better with having warmer clothes on, I decided. No freezing of anything this time around. We rode until lunch, stopped to eat and let Kelvin rest, and resumed our journey. We were moving faster than we had been; maybe Kelvin liked the colder weather or something. But we might make it to Remiem a day sooner than we thought before, which would be nice. I don't think anybody from the pilgrimage had been back to Remiem Temple since the Magus Sisters joined us and we won our Chocobo races.

We stopped for the night as the sun was going down, and we fought again. My muscles disagreed with me, but I did it anyways. Gotta fight through the pain and eventually you don't even notice, or so Pops always said. Brother still complained a lot training though. I noticed I had been getting a little better at least, I didn't feel as clumsy as a three-legged shoopuf anymore. I still couldn't hit that smug bastard, I think he just got his jollies off of showing how much better he was than me. But I still loved him, so that's okay I guess.

We ate, watched the sunset for the mountain, and climbed into bed. I was just happy to be out here with Auron, he didn't even know how happy I was. But I needed sleep more than anything; this whole journey stuff seemed a lot more draining now than it did on the pilgrimage.

* * *

Remiem Temple. Memories of Aeon battles and chocobo races filled my mind as we walked Kelvin around the side of the temple. Damn birds…

The temple was beautiful, ancient architecture that you could only see in temples across Spira. Arches, pillars, all the stone cutting that had to be done for this was immense. It seemed like it was literally carved out of the mountain, the rock being moved out to show a temple. It hung in the air, supported by rock arches and pillars for a hundred or two hundred feet down to the bottom. As the Chocobo trod onwards, I looked around to drink in the majesty of the place once again. Simply amazing, it must have taken years to build; even more considering the temple was hundreds of years old. It is one of the oldest temples in Spira, records of it being here go back as far as eight hundred years ago. Being only my third visit to the temple, it still amazed me whenever I thought about it. It was sad is was left to rot by the Church.

We took a path near the back of the temple that led towards the mountains. The path went from well-trodden to disarray pretty quickly, and I knew that this trip out here could get ugly fairly quickly. I started scanning the land around us more often and under more scrutiny, this land hadn't been well traveled, and fiends probably were in a much greater number than anywhere else in Spira now.

Kelvin didn't need any leading, he followed the path almost exactly, at a pace that seemed faster than the last few days. Didn't bother me really, but I didn't want to tire him out either. The last few days he had been moving pretty quickly, and we needed him to keep his strength for the journey ahead of us. But I never seemed to have control over this damned bird anyways, kind of like Rikku. I'll never have control of anything again it seemed.

* * *

It had gotten a lot colder as we went up in elevation. We weren't too far from the mountain anymore, maybe two days if we moved slowly, but we should be there by tomorrow evening. The last week had passed quickly, the days becoming quickly routine, which I didn't mind. Wake up whenever we woke up, eat something, ride until lunch, ride until dinner, train, sleep. Rinse and repeat, and it was glorious. This was similar to how I saw my life being without the pilgrimage. Simple, routine, all smiles, nothing to bother us. But not quite, because of this quest or whatever you want to call it. So really it wasn't similar at all, but whatever.

I had been getting more nervous though, I don't know how I'm supposed to send a bunch of Aeons. And I was worried about something going wrong, one of us getting hurt and getting stuck out here. I felt myself going back into stoic warrior mode again, hardening myself for whatever was coming. It just was … ominous, something seemed wrong.

We pulled into camp for the night when I found the right spot to do so. I had been stopping us in more protected areas, not just out in the open anymore. So we weren't training quite as long at night because I was searching for a new place to stop for the night that met my standards. Kelvin would alert us if anything went wrong, but I still felt the need to be in a sheltered area for the night. We had seen some fiends, but they seemed to stay away. Maybe because of the mysterious Chocobo charm that keeps them away, but the fiends seemed to be bolder than when we rode the Chocobos on the pilgrimage. These fiends hadn't seen humans in a long time though, who knows how long. And that had made them a bit more courageous, or maybe they were really just that much more powerful.

"Alright, the tent is set up and all of that. Are you hungry?" I asked Rikku, and she nodded furiously. We stopped later tonight, so there would be no training. It was already almost nightfall, and I looked towards the mountains to see where we were going. The last mountain finally went out and I smiled. We weren't far at all. Then it's one down, too many to go.

"Man, I'm getting tired of this food," Rikku said as she chomped down on the bread. I had to admit I was too, but we didn't have anything else. And hopefully our food would last; I wasn't worrying too much unless it took forever for me to figure out how to send the Aeon.

"Better than fiend stew," I said and laughed. Memories of Tidus' disgusting concoction were coming to mind.

"Well at least Tidus won't be cooking it," Rikku said and giggled. That was probably one of the worst nights of the entire pilgrimage. It tasted decent enough, but I remember the nine of us hurling for the evening. Not a pleasant way to spend a night without having drank a drop.

"No swordplay tonight, if that's okay with you I mean. Need to rest up anyways, I have no idea what might happen when we get there," I said and Rikku looked at me with worry. Not necessarily about what's coming, but worried about me. Worried about how much I worry. I never show it, she doesn't need to know how much worrying like this bothers me. It strengthens my resolve, if anything. She didn't need to worry about me; she was supposed to be at ease. I'll just have to work on keeping that stuff inside.

"Yes sir," she said with a smile. She was always saying that while we were training. She had gotten far better than that first night; she was already catching up to Tidus' skills. She had far less power, but her agility was to be admired. She could move so much faster than I could, she had gotten close to hitting me a few times. And soon enough she would, and then we won't need to train anymore. She had fit her shield with augments as well, the best she could do with what she had. We hadn't exactly been killing fiends for what she needed either.

"Well I'm calling it a night, don't stay up too late," I said, and she smiled. Riding those damned birds took far too much out of a person. I crawled into the tent, undressed, and lay down in our 'bed'. At least it was warm.

I must have dozed off a little bit, as I awoke with a start when I heard the tent open again. I didn't even open my eyes; I just moved over to give her some room. I heard her get ready for bed and her cursing when she couldn't find the end of the blankets so she could climb in. It made me smile, my Al Bhed princess with a sailor's mouth.

I felt her press into me and I realized that instead of my chest pressing against a t shirt, it was pressed against skin. My eyes shot open and I looked at her next to me. I couldn't see much because it was dark and we were under the covers, but I didn't see any clothes.

"Rikku, wha…" I started, and she just turned around and kissed me, shutting me up. She somehow climbed on top of me, my arms pinned above me. She leaned in close to my ear and whispered to me.

"Baby I need this," she whispered, so soft, so … needy.

At least we were many miles from people, poor Kelvin.

* * *

**So it was decent, ya? Not my best, I'll give it that. But more is coming, a much more action awesome chapter is next. And it will be longer, I pwomise :) R&R please, and I'll update soon!**


	9. Discoveries

**I understand its been almost 2 years since my last update on this, and most if not all of the people who enjoyed this before will not read it now. But I hope someone enjoys it now. The desire to write it is back, though. My writing style has changed slightly, and as I get in the groove I'll understand how. Thanks for reading, review if you like it, or don't, the choice is yours. The reviews will help me tell if its still good, though. Another update tomorrow, the chapter is written, I just need to proofread and edit. Thanks again.**

**Disclaimor: I do not own FF10, though I wish I did.**

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**Chapter 9: Discovery**

As the sun rose, so did I. I got up quietly and carefully, making sure not to wake Rikku, we wouldn't have to get moving for a while yet. I dressed and made my way out of the tent, my coat slung over my shoulder.

The sun welcomed me as I stepped out into the chilling air. We were pretty high up now, the snow line of the mountain quickly approaching. I still could not see the temple, and even the path we were following was almost non-existent. I just hoped we were heading in the right direction, too many things could go wrong if we got seriously lost.

I slipped on my coat as a particularly cold breeze came down off the mountain I stood upon, and I pulled my sunglasses out and put them on as well. I couldn't see Kelvin, either, but I heard something rustling around. I picked up my sword, looking around for the bird, or the source of the noise at least.

I moved quickly and quietly, making sure I knew which direction the tent lay. The noise slowly got louder as I approached silently. I came to a stand of trees, and Kelvin stood there, crunching branches and making a good deal of noise rooting around for food.

"You are loud, bird," I muttered, Kelvin noticing my presence finally and sauntering over. It ran the side of its face down my hand as I pet it, and returned to what it was doing. I hadn't thought about a lack of food for him this high up. Not much could grow when it started getting cold. It wasn't like me to overlook things like this. I had indeed grown rusty.

I decided to go through my sword forms while Kelvin was busy. I was feeling rusty, and this was about the only thing I could do. The sweat eventually broke on my brow, with the cold it had taken a while, but nothing beat a good workout in the morning. After what felt like a half hour or so, I whistled to Kelvin, hopped on his back, and headed back to camp. The bird must have found what he was looking for.

* * *

I sat up in the tent, and realized I was by myself. The blanket still covered me, but Auron wasn't there, neither was his coat. I got dressed in something warm, slipping on my shoes before setting foot outside the tent.

This mountain sucked, I decided. I am a desert princess, not a snow princess. Cold and me didn't get along at all, I'd rather it be burning hot than the least bit cold. The first gust of wind that I felt sent chills down my spine, and I bundled up with my arms around me to try and keep warm.

I looked around, and I couldn't see Auron anywhere, I couldn't hear him either. Kelvin was missing too, so I figured he went to look around, or something. I looked back in the tent and rooted around, finding a little bit of food for myself. This whole traveling with two business was pretty boring when it was just me. I didn't really know what to do with myself while Auron was missing.

I looked over and saw the black and silver sword Auron had given me next to the tent, and picked it up. I guess I would try to warm up a little bit, better to be sore than cold, I thought. I tried doing some of the things Auron had taught me. It was still a lot harder than my claw had been, but it was definitely getting easier.

Auron had said that I was getting as good as Tidus, which made me smile. I would show that punk up when I saw him next. Beat him up a couple of times, show him who was boss. The sword swung around and around, the sweat beading on my forehead as time passed. I guess I didn't really pay attention to how long I had been doing it, either. When I stopped, my arms hurt but Auron still wasn't back. I put on a pouting face, and sat down to wait.

A little while passed, and I heard the brush rustling and a small cascade of rocks. I shot to my feet, grabbing the shield from where it lay nearby and strapping it on. Into the clearing strode a pair of bandersnatches. They weren't necessarily looking for me as I saw a rabbit shoot from a shrub out into visibility.

I stood by watching carefully in a half crouch as one took off after the rabbit and disappeared, the other had seen me and was approaching carefully. It looked hungry, the ribs on its side easily visible. I got into the stance Auron taught me, and circled around it a little bit. It was strange, I wasn't really afraid, kind of like how I was during the pilgrimage. I had much more confidence than I'd had since before he left.

The wolf propelled itself at me, jumping into the air with its jaws spread, a snarl escaping from it. I used my shield to deflect it to my right, sinking my sword into its back. A scream left the wolf's mouth as it turned to look at me again. Blood trickled off the end of my sword as it circled around me, looking for an advantage. Once again it lunged, but I was completely ready, rocking back on my feet and then propelling the sword forward, the sword finding its mark and burying itself in the creature's throat. It made a death noise, gurgling, and stopped moving. I pulled my sword from it, and made sure it wasn't going to move again.

I looked around for more of them and didn't see any. I found some sparse grasses, and got to work removing the blood from the sword. Blood couldn't be good for metal, in the same way water was, especially in the cold. I got most of it off, and looked around again. Still no sign of any other creatures. I resumed my position next to me tent, but I was ready for more to show up, that's for sure.

I finally allowed myself to feel proud, I had only had the sword for like a week and already I could use it. Suck on that, Tidus.

* * *

The chocobo and I strode into the area where the tent was, and I found Rikku sitting awake next to the tent, shield on her arm, sword in hand. Then I saw the body of the wolf laying there a little ways off.

"Are you hurt?" I asked quickly. I didn't think anything would happen. That was the problem, I didn't think. The rust went deeper than I had thought.

"No problems here," she said, smiling. At least the trainings had paid off. Even Tidus hadn't been able to kill one himself the first time he encountered one. "Where did you go off to, anyways?"

"I thought I heard monsters, but it was our pal here. And then… well that doesn't matter. I'm sorry I wasn't here," I said.

"It's okay. I'm a big girl, remember?" Rikku said, and blushed to herself as if remembering something.

"Okay, as long as you are unhurt. We should pack up and start moving. The tree line is not far away, we can't be too far away from this temple," I said and she nodded, going inside the tent to pack the bags.

The tent came down, and within fifteen or so minutes we were riding swiftly along again. The chocobos long, sure steps moved us toward our destination quickly. Or quickly towards something, who knew if it was where we wanted to go.

Time flew by as did we, moving up the mountain at a speed I didn't really think possible. Kelvin moved as if he knew where we were going, at times I couldn't even see the path, but he did, at least I think he did by how he was moving. We stopped once at the start of snow, where the trees stopped. I looked around, and still saw nothing I was looking for. The snow made me nervous, the path was gone, or so it seemed anyways.

"Why aren't there any more trees?" Rikku asked, biting into some food. I allowed myself to eat some as well, I hadn't for breakfast.

"It's called the tree horizon. Above this point its too cold and rocky for trees to grow, we might see a little bit of shrubs and grasses, but no more trees. It means we aren't all that far from the top," I said, and it was true. Another days ride up and we would be standing at the peak.

"Where is the temple thinger up here anyways. No wonder nobody came to it anymore, there isn't ANYTHING up here besides freezing cold," Rikku said, complaining with a pouting face.

"I'm not really sure, to be honest. Somewhere in these mountains, anyways," I said, finishing off my food. I looked around again, and something caught my eye this time. A long ways off I saw a pile of rocks. The first time I saw it, I thought it was just a pile of rocks. But this time one caught my attention, it looked more like a pillar, like it was constructed and not just there. I strained to see more, but that was about the limit of what I could.

We piled back on Kelvin, and I led him in the direction of that rock outcropping. As we approached, I became more sure of where we were going was the right way. I slowed the chocobo down and Rikku finally noticed what I had been looking at.

"That doesn't look natural," I heard Rikku say loudly, and I laughed.

"I saw it when we stopped. I think we are indeed going the right way," I said and Kelvin spurred onwards towards it.

We dismounted next to it, and it wasn't natural indeed. It was kind of like a waypost marker or something, obviously here to have people go towards it. It didn't have any writing on it, or any markings whatsoever.

"It doesn't even say anything, how does this help us? Stupid rock," Rikku said, circling around it quickly. She was pretty energetic despite the cold.

"Hmmm…" I thought to myself, looking around again until I found what I was looking for. In the distance was another one of these pillars like things. "It doesn't need to say anything, look over there," I said and pointed. Kelvin warked at me, as if understanding, but Rikku still didn't see anything.

"What are you looking at? I can't see it!" Rikku said, leaning her head forward as if that would help her see farther.

"It's another one of these. I think we just need to follow them," I said, and she just grunted.

"Stupid things, why are they so far apart that I can't see them," Rikku asked impatiently.

"Don't you fly the Celsius? Your eyesight can't be that bad," I said and laughed.

"No I don't. I'm not allowed to after I almost ran into… some stuff," she said, sheepishly at the end. "I'm only allowed to navigate," and she was pouting now.

"Maybe we should talk to Rin about some glasses," I said absentmindedly. "Your father does have them."

"Never! I'm not a nerd," she said and crossed her arms. I decided not to push it, she did look kind of angry. I stepped over Kelvin and helped her on, and we took off for the next stone.

Just because I couldn't see! Stupid stones, its not my fault they were so far apart. Just like how its not my fault the Celsius moves at like a million miles an hour and I couldn't see the mountains. If the stupid airship moved at a regular speed I could have dodged them, but nooooooo.

Auron had fallen quiet as Kelvin ran from stone to stone. I had counted to ten of them, and then stopped. I was just irritated, I didn't really know why. Other than being told, again, that I needed to get glasses. Dad had said so, Brother had said so, even Yunie said I should. Pops said that Mom wore glasses from age twelve on, and Brother's goggles were his glasses for driving. But I refuse. RE-FU-SE!

I silently fumed to myself, keeping warm by leaning into Auron. It had definitely gotten colder today, that's for sure. Maybe that's what made me irritated. The cold needed to go away. I wouldn't be happy until I spent like a month basking under the sun laying on the sand.

I looked around again, and actually saw a stone off in the distance. Maybe my eyes weren't so bad!

"Auron look, I see one! And we just passed one!" I exclaimed, happy again.

"That's because they are getting closer together, sunshine," Auron said and I was angry again. So what if I couldn't tell. I could feel him laughing behind me, even if he didn't make any noise. I elbowed him in the ribs and he stopped. I'll show him.

Soon enough I could see two at a time, then three at a time. It must mean that we were getting closer or something. And then it came into view, the temple I mean.

It was HUGE, I mean gi-freaking-normous huge. It was like it was carved into the backside of the mountain. The stones must be to lead us around the side of the mountain to find it. If the sun came up, it would have been the first thing lit up. It was all a dark grey and black, with huge arches on the pathway leading up to it. Carvings covered the walls, carvings of all sorts of creatures, but a big bird was the most common.

"I take it this is what we were looking for?" I asked and I heard Auron grunt in agreement.

"I would think so, so strange that no one knows that this existed anymore," Auron said, amazement in his voice. As we approached, we slowed down to a slow walk, passing under large arches covered in statues. We were a couple hundred feet from the large door when Auron stopped Kelvin and we got off. My butt was sore, for sure, but the adrenaline running through my system made me ignore it.

"So the question is do we wait until tomorrow, or head in tonight?" Auron asked. The sun had fallen to a point where this was a pretty good question.

"I wanna go in right now!" I exclaimed. It had been so long since I had done something like this. Well, since Zanarkand, anyways. And where there were temples, there were cloisters. And where there were cloisters, there was treasure!

"Alright, we'll do that, then. I'm going to set up the tent so we don't have to do it when it is dark, though," Auron said, and removed all of the bags off of Kelvin.

He quickly set up the tent and filled it with out belongings, handing me my shield and slipping a book into a pocket on his coat. I strapped the shield on, gripping the sword in my left hand.

"Kelvin, stay here, we'll be back soon enough," Auron said, patting the bird. It warked a couple of times, but didn't really move too far away.

"Ready to go?" Auron asked, and I nodded furiously, I was so excited. Treasure and temples and treasure! I wasn't really sure exactly what we needed to do, but we would figure it out. One step closer to being done with all this Fayth business for good, anyways.

We walked up to the entrance, which seemed to be dimly lit, looked around for anything suspicious, and strode into the temple like we had many times before.

* * *

**Not my greatest writing, but I think its pretty alright. Thanks again for reading, and it'll be updated again tomorrow so look for that. Hope you enjoyed it.**


	10. Chamber of the Fayth

**Hey all, it took a day longer for me to update than I had hoped, but oh well. I re-wrote the second half of this chapter four times, and I'm still not exactly happy with it. Seems a little OOC, to me, let me know if you think so as well or something. But here it is, another Chamber of the Fayth?**

**AN: I do not own FFX. I own a wish that I owned it, though.**

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**Chapter 10: Chamber of the Fayth**

The temple was dark, that's for sure. Not dark to the point that we could see, but dark enough. Nobody was here to light torches anymore. I reached into a pouch on my belt and pulled out a pair of vials containing a silvery dust and a yellow liquid. I stopped and looked around, finding some rotting cloth and a longer stick. I tied the cloth to the end, and mixed the two substances together, smothering the cloth in it. Sparking it with my sword hitting my shield, it turned into a torch. A smoky torch, but it would work for now.

"Nice thinking, Rikku," Auron said, looking around. It looked like a lot of temples did. There were statues of people who completed their pilgrimage standing there for eternity, though they did look like they had fallen into disrepair a little bit. The cold couldn't be good for them, that's for sure.

There seemed to be rooms on either side of a large staircase that presumably led to the cloister, but both had either collapsed or become blocked by fallen statues. Auron looked around for a while, looked back at me, and the two of us headed up the stairs. The traditional drapery covering the entrance was long since gone, and we walked in. It wasn't any darker once we were inside the cloister. The stairs didn't stop for a while, with us constantly walked up, until we entered a large square room. Auron took the torch from me and scanned the walls.

I looked around myself for the clues of a cloister. Spheres and sockets, mostly, like always. Sockets I found, but spheres not so much. It was like there weren't any in the joint, like someone took them when they left.

"Auron, what happens to temples that aren't visited anymore?" I asked, wondering about the spheres.

"Usually they take the spheres, making them locked until the church wants to open it back up," Auron said nonchalantly, continuing his search.

"Oh greaaaaaat. That's so smart," I said to myself, continuing my search. How are we supposed to get to the Fayth when the spheres were gone?

"There is a way, Rikku, don't worry. How do you think church officials moved around a cloister without moving the spheres?" Auron said and laughed. I guess I hadn't ever really thought about that. I mean, there had to be some maintenance of the temples, right? But if we didn't find the spheres, we couldn't get the treasure. I frowned at that thought and kept looking around.

I found a socket with notches in it, which seemed strange to me. I traced the outline of it with my finger, and heard something click. A stone wall in front of Auron raised up to reveal a much smaller rectangular room, not much bigger than a closet. A glow rose from the room.

"Man I am THE best treasure hunter in the world," I said, jumping up and down. Accident, or luck? I'm going to say luck, because I don't need accidents to show how awesome I am.

"So, we have two clear spheres, one purple one, and one with no color," Auron said, walking over with the spheres. He knew I was much better at puzzles than he was.

"Well the two clear ones must be the temple spheres, because purple is destruction. And give me the one with no color," I said, grabbing it from him. I looked at it, and it felt cold to the touch which was weird. An idea popped into my head. "Maybe it has no energy, like it needs to be charged."

"Sounds like it could be. I'm not so good at this puzzle stuff. I've done the common temples twice, that's why I had no problems. You should have seen the first time I went through them, it was awful. Jecht had to do all of them," Auron said and laughed. I forget sometimes he has done a lot without me, not that that could be changed. Not that it mattered a whole lot, right now.

I looked around for sockets on the walls, and surprise surprise, I found four sockets. Which sockets do what, was the question. I didn't want to waste the energy stored in the destruction sphere. I traced the lines of power from socket to socket, trying to make a mental map of what would happen. And then it clicked. The left and right walls led to the back wall, so I put the cold, clear sphere in the back wall, putting the light spheres in either side. The lines of power illuminated the room and I saw Auron sitting in the center of the room, smirking. That's right, look on in awe, young one.

I giggled, walking up to the front wall. The question was, should I put the newly infused sphere or the destruction sphere in this slot. I stood there for a little while, lost in thought, until I heard Auron stand up. He walked to the back of the room, and grabbed the newly lit sphere, and grabbed the one off the right side of the wall. He handed one to me, and stuck the other in wall. Nothing happened.

"Way to go, it didn't do anything," I said, and he just smiled. He grabbed the destruction sphere from my hand before I could protest, and stuck it into the right side wall. The wall shimmered a couple times, and disappeared. Inside were another socket, and a treasure chest.

"Way to go!" I exclaimed, opening the treasure chest. Inside was… nothing. It was empty. "What a joke! What's the point of treasure chests if you don't put anything inside of it?"

"Maybe someone beat us to it?" Auron said.

"Well if the puzzle was easy enough for you to figure out, of course it was," I said. Of course, that was it. If Auron figured it out and I didn't, of course it was too easy. I put the sphere Auron left me in the socket, and the left wall disappeared, leading to more stairs. Auron grabbed the sphere in the wall next to him, and headed up the stairs, with me on his heels. We got to the top of the stairs, and he inserted it into a pedestal. A circle on the ground lit up, and rose a little bit.

Elevators. The bane of my existence (Next to lightning, of course). Heights and I didn't exactly get along, and an elevator without railings was terrifying. Auron just smirked; he knew what was going on. He had kept me from freaking out in the other temples, especially Bevelle. I shuddered when I thought of that. He stood on it and motioned to me, and I got on next to him. He hugged me tight as the elevator started to move.

We rode for only thirty or forty seconds, I think, and it stopped moving with us in a new circular room. The only thing there was a single door, with the trademark stone door. The door to the Fayth.

* * *

The cloister really hadn't been difficult, the only reason I had figured it out before she had was because I could see in the dark better. The lines of power had made it pretty obvious, she would have gotten it way before me if she could see properly. We reached the top, and the door to the Fayth appeared before us.

It did make me nervous, I mean I was here to destroy the Fayth. I didn't think they would just roll over and let me destroy it. I approached the door while Rikku stood behind me, but it wouldn't move at all. Usually they opened in the presence of a summoner, but I remember that Kimahri and Tidus had moved one once.

I tried to move it myself, but I didn't think that even with Rikku's help we could move it. I just stared at it for a while, Rikku being strangely quiet. I looked for what she was looking at, and I saw it, the paintings and murals covering the walls.

"It looks like this Fayth is a giant bird, or something. I don't know," Rikku said quietly. The murals were pretty violent; it looked like two giant birds caught in a fight, with the land and people being slaughtered beneath them. I didn't really know what to make of it. The legends of this temple were long since lost, so mere speculation wouldn't help much.

Rikku handed me the torch, turning her attention to the door. She tried to lift it like I did, it didn't move for her either.

"Come on, open up you stupid Fayth!" Rikku yelled, pounding on it a couple times with her fist. And it opened as my jaw dropped.

"See, what would you do without me?" Rikku said and flashed me her mischievous grin before walking inside. I went to follow her inside and the door slammed downwards as I jumped out of the way to avoid being crushed.

"Rikku!" I yelled. We were separated by an unmovable door, just like a real pilgrimage.

"It's okay, I'll take care of it somehow," she said and I could hear her laugh. The adrenaline was going to her head.

I stood there thinking, setting the torch down and trying to move the door again to no avail. I slumped against the door in thought, with nothing I could do besides wait like a guardian.

* * *

I had only been inside one or two of the Chamber of the Fayths ever, but I didn't remember being as dark as this one was. I walked forward using the wall as a guide about twenty steps, and it suddenly lit up.

I could take care of this, I mean I had to. If Auron couldn't get in, I had to do it. It wasn't just his mission as soon as he found me, it was our mission.

I walked into the bright room, and found myself standing on the edge of a huge fayth statue. Well, I found what we were looking for, anyways. Auron said something about having to destroy them or something, so I looked around for a way to do so.

"What are you doing?" a voice said and I turned quickly sword raised. A shimmering human floated a few feet off the floor, a smile on her face. It was a younger woman, my age almost. Well, would have been if she wasn't a Fayth. I could at least recognize that.

"Ummm… nothing?" I said, not sure what I was supposed to say. Would she get angry if I broke the statue?

"You didn't come to summon me?" she asked, confused.

"Um… not really, to be honest," I said slowly. Did a Fayth know if you were lying? Or would it attack me if I tried to break it? Maybe it couldn't do anything, but she might be sad.

"So what do you need, little one? It is not everyday a person comes to the Fayth for no reason," the woman said and smiled. She was very kind, for a Fayth. Not that I had met a mean one, I guess. But they could be if they wanted, I think. I needed to think about what to do, not a Fayth's attitude though.

"Promise not to be mad?" I asked. It kind of felt hollow, or something. She could do whatever she wanted and I couldn't do anything about it.

"Of course not. Now what is it?" she asked again, the smile reappearing.

"I.. I mean we are supposed to destroy all the Fayth statues that remain, I guess. I think, anyways. He got trapped outside the door and can't get in so it's just me," I said while kicking the dust on the floor and she nodded thoughtfully.

"And who could have told you to do such a thing? I am tired of dreaming, but it is still my duty," she said, no anger or emotion in her voice.

"Well, he died a long time ago, like twelve years ago, and then spent like ten years as an unsent. And then the other Fayth I think sent him back to do this. But he's really alive this time," I said, trying to explain the situation to the best of my ability. I didn't know all the ins and outs of it anyways, and Auron prolly wouldn't tell me anyways. He liked his secrets, like he always had.

"Ahhh, I understand then. If the other Fayth have stopped dreaming, it would be our turn. Do you know what you must do? He, whoever he is, cannot. Do you want to finish this task for him?" she asked, and I nodded instantly. It didn't really matter what it was, I would do anything to prevent him from disappearing again. He promised not to leave, and I would do anything in my power to help him keep that promise.

"Then, little one, you must summon me out of the stone to destroy it. You must summon each of us that are left for I don't know how many of us still dream. And when we are all done dreaming, you shall lose the ability to summon us, but not until then," she said seemingly without breathing. Well, not breathing because Fayth didn't need to, but you know what I mean.

"So I have to be a summoner? Or something? I'm not even in Yevon or anything, is that okay?" I asked quickly. The questions rose and fell quicker than I could ask them, but I tried keeping the important ones to ask. I wasn't so good at keeping everything together like Auron or Yunie. They had actual heads on their shoulders.

"Yes, you must take each of us out of the stone to destroy it, or it will be indestructible. And Yevon does not matter in this; my choice is the only thing that matters. It will not be pleasant, I will tell you that. It will be anything but pleasant, to be honest. But it is what must be done. And he, if he has been to the Farplane like that, cannot do this, only you," she said and I nodded. It did kind of make sense when I thought about it, not that that means I understood it anymore than I did before.

"So its gonna hurt? I guess… I can deal with that, if I have to. So if I do the summon thingy, will the door open so he can destroy your statue?" I asked, making sure I could get out. The two of us together couldn't open it, and being stuck here is something I didn't want.

"Yes, it will respond to you, like it did to let you in," she said, and I nodded. I walked around the statue in the ground to where it looked like a rug sat for a really long period of time. I knelt down, and looked up to her.

"I am ready when you are, Ms. Fayth," I said, and smiled at her. Time to get this over with.

"My name is Lumina, and prepare youself," she said, smiling one last time before disappearing as fast as she had appeared. I was allowed the second of thought to wonder what was going to happen before it did.

It felt like I had been thrown from a cliff into freezing icy water, breaking through the ice on top. It felt like I was being beaten up, like I was on fire, like I was freezing cold all at the same time. And it was from ears to toes, too, not just one part of me. My guts twisted around as I slumped to the floor, convulsions racking my body. I couldn't even make any noise, and it seemed to last forever.

It did finally end, and I felt exhausted. Like I had run a hundred miles in the blazing sun on sand, all uphill. And then some more. I tried to get off of the stone floor, and found that all my muscles felt like jelly. I finally managed to rock back into a crouch, and I kind of crawled/hopped over to the wall, using it to stand up. I heavily leaned on the wall while I stumbled towards Auron was waiting.

I couldn't really comprehend what was going on; I mean it had happened so quickly. Pops always said I jumped in head first before seeing how deep the water was, he was right. Who could know what the consequences of this would be? I didn't really care right now, though. I just hurt, and was tired, and wanted to go to sleep, and not on the ground either.

The twenty or so steps before felt like two hundred, this time, but eventually I did make it to the door, and as she promised, the door opened up quickly as I approached it. Auron shot up and looked at me. I tried to smile, I think, and I fell forward as everything went black.

* * *

I hadn't heard anything in what seemed like ages until I heard the door open. I hadn't even heard any footsteps toward the door. I had heard her walk in. The door shot open and I jumped up from where I was sitting to see her using the wall as her crutch in the darkness.

She looked up and saw me, and a weak smile crossed half of her mouth before she began to fall forward. I jumped forward and caught her, carrying her out of the door and laying her down. I quickly took off my coat and shirt, the coat for a blanket and the shirt for a pillow. She wasn't moving at all, out cold.

The door didn't close again, and I decided to walk in to see what was going on. I quickly found the Statue of the Fayth, but it did not glow like the ones I had seen previously. It looked old, that was the one characteristic that seemed to stick out most. Like it was falling apart, that there wasn't anything in it anymore.

I walked back out to where Rikku lay, still unmoving, and grabbed my sword before re-entering the Chamber of the Fayth. I approached the glass covering the statue, and jammed my sword down hard, cracking it. I did it again, and the glass shattered, leaving the statue exposed.

I lifted my sword again, and did the same to the statue. It broke into pieces, and then the pieces turned into dust. In the span of seconds, a layer of fine silt covered the ground with shards of glass poking out in places. It was done, one down, eight statues to go. Or so I thought, anyways.

I walked back out to where Rikku lay and put my shirt back down. I picked her up like a princess, my coat covering her, and started walking out of the temple. I carefully picked my way, walking slower than I know I needed to, but I didn't want to have anything happen.

I exited into darkness, it was well past nightfall already. I walked even slower, feeling the path out. I knew our tent was set up on the pathway pretty much, and I would be able to see it if I got close enough. It was freezing cold out, even I felt the chill, but Rikku needed my coat more than I did.

After two hundred or so paces, the tent came into my view. I heard a quiet noise from Kelvin, sleepy but noticing our presence. I opened the tent with some difficulty, but it finally opened. I laid her down on her pillow before stripping myself down. I removed my coat from her and quickly flipped the blanket over the both of us.

I finally allowed myself to think. Before, in the temple, it had been almost automatic. Doing exactly what needed to be done, but if I let myself think my mind would run. I used to be cold, calculating, and every action obvious and perfect. I had changed, for better or worse.

What had happened to her? She reminded me of Braska, and Yuna, when they exited the Chambers of the Fayth. Weakened to the point that they lost conciousness. Something had happened, if she would tell me was the question. I pulled her close, my mind running like I was afraid it was going to. Sleep would prove difficult, that was the only thing I was sure of.

* * *

**There you have it, folks. Hope you enjoyed it more than I did writing it, nothing more frustrating than something not turning out the exact way you see it in your head. Oh well. Reviews are like gas tanks, they keep me going. Next chapter in a couple days, I'm just starting on it now.**


	11. Lumina

**Welcome to chapter 11. I hope you are enjoying everything so far, cause I know I am. I'm not so good with action chapters, but I needed one so here it is. Let me know how it is, ya?**

**Disclaimor: I do not own FFX, but I wish I did.**

* * *

Chapter 11: Lumina

The crunching of twigs and brush being snapped underfoot made me wake up with a start. I didn't remember how I got back to the tent, but I felt like a million bucks right now. Yesterday felt like a dream, I didn't hurt anymore which was awesome. I wonder how a summoner … summons something. I didn't know, that's for sure.

I sat up, Auron still asleep. It wasn't like him, but he prolly went all macho and stayed awake worried for a long time like a stupid head. It made me feel good to know he did, but I mean, its not like I could run away without him knowing or something. I figured I'd have to talk to him about it today, and he would most definitely not be pleased.

I dressed in a long pair of pants and a knit sweater, tying my hair up and exiting the tent. I looked around for what had made the noises earlier, but I couldn't see it anywhere, whatever _it_ was. I stretched, a big yawn escaping me and a smile crossing my face as I looked out at the sun coming up. The smile disappeared as a gust of wind chilled me to the bone. We had to get off this mountain like yesterday, that was for sure.

"Kelvin!" I said kind of quietly, I think, and the birds head popped up a little ways off. He must have made the noises looking for some greens. He must be hungry from us being stuck way up on this dumb mountain for so long.

The bird trotted up to me as I pet the side of his face. He made a noise kind of like a cat purring but a lot less quiet, which I assumed meant he was happy at least.

"We get to leave this dumb mountain today! Or start to, anyways. I know you want it to be warm too, right?" I asked him. Not that he responded at all, but he sure was a good listener. As I sat and petted the bird, I heard the crunching noise again. My head whipped around, but I couldn't see anything.

Kelvin warked a couple of times, standing out in front of me looking around. I looked for my sword and shield but I didn't see them, who knew where that dumb guy put them. I heard Kelvin start warking frantically and looked to see him running towards the tent. He kicked it a bunch, trying to wake Auron up I think.

"Kelvin stop, he's slee… holy yev… on," I said, noticing a giant leg step from around the corner of the temple. It was a ways off and still looked huge.

"Auron, hey Auron. We may have a small, teeny tiny little problem," I said as loud as I could, staring at the leg, waiting for the rest to appear.

The creature took another step and a giant behemoth stood on all fours not far off. And I don't think it was alone, either. Panic began to rise in my throat as I tried to figure out what to do. All I remember of these things is running away from them for the most part, not to be messed with.

"Auron! Stop being worthless and wake up," I said, trying to open the flap on the tent while screaming in his general direction. "You are sooooo going to die later mister," I said, the zipper jamming, only making me angrier and more panicked.

The behemoth was closing in too fast for me, though its not like it was sprinting. And by 'behemoth', I meant the group of behemoths. All three of them. Like a Murder of behemoths, or a gaggle. Or something. Group wasn't a word for something that scary.

Kelvin lifted one clawed foot and ripped the tent open down the side and stuck his head into the tent. I couldn't see what he was doing, and my head kept flipping from looking at what Kelvin was doing and how long before we were the International House of Behomoth food.

"GOD DAMN BIRD!" I heard Auron yell out as Kelvin dragged Auron's coat out, him holding onto the other end.

"Auron SHUT THE HELL UP! We have much bigger problems, three much bigger ones!" I said hurriedly, pointing at the approaching murder of behemoths.

He looked once at them, once at me, once at Kelvin, and then was a flurry of action. Kelvin let go of his coat as Auron put it on and cinched the waist. He grabbed both his and my sword, tossing me mine, and then my shield. Reaching back in, he slung his jug of nog over his shoulder, put on his sunglasses, and then put on his shoes. He took so long to get ready, oh my sweet shoopufs.

I strapped on my shield, and looked for something I should do. I reached into the pouches on my belts, not really finding exactly what I needed. Nothing that would make a big enough boom, anyways. I looked at Auron, panicking to the point of hysteria. There was no way in Spira we could take three behemoths by ourselves. Even if the gang were all here, we couldn't take on three at once. This was stupid. Beyond stupid, like stupid as Tidus stupid.

"Get the bag together, just what's in there, don't bother with the rest," Auron said, and whistled for Kelvin. Kelvin ran over to him as Auron hopped onto his back, then the two of them shot across the snow covered ground directly at the behemoths.

"What ARE you doing, stupid men," I grumbled as I did what I was told, reaching into the slash that Kelvin had made in the tent, grabbing the one big bag that had the books, the food, and most of our clothing. I looked back over towards Auron, well the yellow speck that I knew was him, and sighed before going back to work.

* * *

I didn't know how these three had snuck up without me hearing. Obviously they weren't graceful, silent creatures. Rather than that, they were loud and vicious, and would tear us apart if we didn't get away.

I lifted my sword as I sped along the ground aboard Kelvin. I turned him to the left and slowed down a bit before jumping off, landing on the ground and sliding a little ways.

"Back to her, Kelvin!" I yelled, sword raised, the lead behemoth a mere hundred or so in front of me. The bird warked and took off, running like his life was on the line, which it really was. Behemoths would gore you if they could get a hold of you, and if they couldn't, a couple of spells would finish you off anyways.

The behemoth roared, acknowledging my existence. Travelling this far from the caverns and Zanarkand was really strange, not like it mattered how they had gotten here. I sprinted towards the behemoth, my speed the only advantage I held over the hulking creature.

The behemoth raised a leg in preparation to kick me, and I ran into a slide, sliding underneath the leg to stand up beneath it. I swung my sword in a broad arc in the direction of where the leg was, and I felt it cut into the flesh of the beast. A roar of pain followed, and it kicked backwards to where I was standing. I rolled to my left, swinging my sword again in a broad arc, hitting near the same spot again.

It was angry, now. An annoyance had turned into pain, and it was very, very upset. Trying to stomp on me now, its front legs rose and fell quickly again and again, it slowly moving backwards. I rolled from stomp after stomp, avoiding what would be death. Without realizing it, it had moved back far enough where I was no longer in front of it, and it quickly spun around. Its meaty tail moving quickly on where I stood.

I took off in a sprint towards the tail, at the last moment planting the end of my sword into the snow, pole vaulting over the blur of a tail. I came down swinging my sword downwards in a powerful chop, cutting deeply into the upper hindquarters of its leg. It screamed again in pain, trying to swing its tail again. I swung as hard as I could, attempting to hamstring the creature. My sword bit into its ankle, and the behemoth faltered. It's leg crumpled down on itself, and I tried to pull the sword from it and failed. The crumpling had pinched the sword to the point where I couldn't pull it out. In my pulling on my sword, I hadn't noticed the tail moving again without the body moving.

It hit me right in the side, throwing me twenty or thirty feet into the snow. I felt the bones snap in my side before I heard it, all before I bounced off the ground. I stood up, if not a little shaky, ignoring the pain like I always had before. I broken rib or five wouldn't stop me at this point.

The behemoth, thinking I was done with it, was attempting to stand up. I ran, albeit much slower than before, towards my sword. I pulled it from the leg it had been stuck in and ran underneath its sagging stomach. I got into a squat, pointed the sword skyward, and thrust up with all the power I had.

"Dragon Fang," I muttered, and the energy dispersed into the innards of the behemoth. The power unleashed had thrown me and the sword well clear of the collapsing behemoth, gallons of blood and large chunks of meat falling from the dying behemoth. I fell to one knee, using the sword to keep me up. It had taken almost all of my strength reserves to do just that. The other two behemoths were quickly approaching; I had a minute or two at most before they were upon its dying brother.

The behemoth screamed in agony as it slowly died, and I could feel power welling up. Behemoths did not go down without a bang, unfortunately. I saw the black cloud above me appear and I knew the meteors were coming. A smile crossed my face, it had been a long time since a challenge like this had appeared, I couldn't help but smile.

* * *

Kelvin ran up to me and warked like crazy as I fished around in the bag for something I had packed before leaving, a communicator Pops said I always had to have on me. I finally found it as Kelvin was threatening me with its beak.

"Just a sec bird," I said loudly, opening the communicator and hitting the big blue button.

"Rikku, long time…" Cid started before Rikku cut her off.

"No time to chat, pops. Track me using the communicator, get here as fast as you can. Faster than that!" I yelled. I could hear him start to say something else as I hit the red button, turning it off. The tracking coordinates still being broadcast, I shoved it back into the bag and threw it around Kelvin's neck. I heard one of the behemoths scream in pain and allowed myself to smile as I jumped onto the bird. It took off, back in the direction of Auron.

As I flew towards the battle, I noticed the behemoth laying on the ground, red seeping into the snow all the way around it. Auron had beat the crap out of it! And then I noticed the other two not far off, and we didn't have much time before they were here.

I saw Auron's red coat billowing in the breeze, and Kelvin ran towards him. And then I saw the black cloud start to appear above him. Would I get there before he was blown to smithereens? I spurred the chocobo on, faster and faster. I would beat the meteors, come hell or high water.

I yelled at the top of my lungs and Auron turned to see me, surprise crossing his face. I tightened my legs around Kelvin as tight as I could as we slowed down a little bit. I wrapped one arm around the chocobo's neck, and held out my other hand. I felt Auron's slap it and I gripped it for dear life, feeling the socket in my shoulder strain to the point of giving out.

Auron used the momentum of the bird and my arm to sling himself onto Kelvin, seated right behind me, his sword in the other hand.

"Nice timing, princess," Auron said and laughed. He always got weird when the odds were stacked up against us. I remember his devilish laugh with Yunalesca, with Sin, with anything that was hard.

"Shut up, dummy!" I said, steering Kelvin around the corpse of the behemoth before darting off in the direction opposite the two approaching, lumbering behemoths.

Auron's breathing sounded extremely ragged, like more from a workout ragged.

"Are you hurt?" I asked quickly, trying to guide the bird around the rocks and snow drifts. Kelvin had a mind of his own, though, hopping over some of them and taking really sharp turns around others.

"I think I broke a few ribs, maybe," Auron said and laughed again. 'Stupid men' was all I could think.

"I hate you SO much, right now!" I yelled back at him, managing to look behind us for a moment. The behemoths had already passed their brethren's corpse, and were running at full speed for us. They had a lot longer steps than Kelvin did, and it felt like they were gaining on us.

"I got a hold of Pops, he could be here soon," I said back to Auron.

"What is soon?" Auron asked quickly, noticing the behemoths for himself.

"If he was in Bevelle? A half hour-ish. If he was on Bikanel? Two or three hours, four or five if he was in Besaid," I said quickly. I wish I had asked where he was. And then it clicked, I had an idea. Not a good one, mind you, and Auron would complain. But I wouldn't give him time to do that.

I found the tent we had used, and slowed Kelvin down to a walk. I picked up the bag around Kelvin's neck and threw it onto the ground.

"What are you doing?" Auron asked, surprised. But not as surprised as he was when I pushed him off of Kelvin.

"The communicator is in the bag. Hit the blue button. Find out how long Pops will be," I said and spurred Kelvin back into a sprint.

"Rikku!" he yelled at me, but I ignored him. I was fumbling with the chemicals and items in my pouches, making grenades of all flavors as fast as I could. It wouldn't so much as put a dent in them, but it would sure piss em off. I just had to buy some time until the Celsius got here with its missiles, if it was loaded with them. I could hope, right?

* * *

"Rikku!" I yelled, but she ignored me as her and the bird took off at full bore. I turned to the bag and fumbled around opening it up, finding the communicator on the top.

I tried opening it, failing a couple of times until it finally opened. I hit the blue button and heard Cid. A very, very angry Cid.

"What the hell are you doing, kiddo?" Cid boomed into the communicator.

"It's Auron, Cid. Behemoths showed up, three of them. We have one down, but there are two more. We need help, now," I said as fast but calmly as I could.

"Well what in the hell are you doing? I'm above Remiem right now, you are lucky I was in Bevelle and ready to go. I should be there in about fifteen minutes to a half hour. You are just going to have to hold out till then," Cid said, and I heard the beeps of a computer in the background.

"We can try. Are you loaded with missiles?" I asked, and Cid groaned.

"Not really, I got enough firepower onboard to help, though," Cid said and I couldn't help but smile. Some of our guardians were with him, apparently.

"Alright, I'm going to help Rikku, be quick," I said, and I heard him scream at me about Rikku not being with me. He could get angry later, but we needed help now.

I heard a couple of booms, and saw Rikku dart out from beneath one behemoth's legs, sword raised high and the smoke rising. At least she wasn't trying to take them in a straight fight, I shouldn't have done that either. I grabbed my sword from the snow and ran after her as fast as I could.

* * *

"Yeah!" I yelled as I rode Kelvin out from underneath a behemoth, the smoke cloud rising behind me. I had blinded both of the behemoths with my grenades, and they were thoroughly ticked off at me. I could tell Kelvin was getting tired, though, he was slowing down a little bit at a time.

It was exhilarating, though, fighting from chocobo back. Being a Chocobo knight would have been absolutely amazing I thought as Kelvin turned around so we could start another salvo. I saw a red coat in the distance approaching, hopefully Auron was alright and had talked to Pops.

I looked forward now, as both behemoths charged towards me. They may have been blinded, but it didn't mean they couldn't know where I was. I felt it before I saw it, the lightning spell bearing down on me. I raised my shield, deflecting it off into the ground where a cloud of rocks and water shot out of the ground. Of course, avoiding lightning had been the first priority I had given the shield when I had received it.

"Stupid purple things!" I yelled at the behemoth, ducking underneath the pair of horns the behemoth had lowered. I raised my sword, a shallow cut appearing along the length of the beast's stomach. It roared in pain as I shot out from underneath it and I chucked a grenade as hard as I could behind me.

It exploded near enough the beasts for them to turn around to see me moving the other way. They wouldn't even see Auron hit them, hopefully. I reached down into my pouch, and found myself out of everything. I had two empty flasks, a potion, and a couple of corks. I groaned to myself, I couldn't even do anything with that if I wanted to.

I tried to figure out what I could do now, looking down at the sword before looking ahead again as we wheeled around again. Kelvin was breathing raggedly, and the behemoths were catching up to me faster every time. Another half-baked plan appeared in my head, and I just smiled to myself. Auron was SO gonna be mad later, but that was okay. If we lived, that was. I didn't want to end up part of a behemoth's meal.

"Kelvin, get ready for this!" I yelled, excitement lacing my voice as I aimed Kelvin to shoot through the behemoth's legs again. Auron was still a ways off, but that didn't matter as much, he would have to clean up the mess I was about to create.

* * *

My breath was coming in ragged gasps, but I still ran as fast as I could. The pain had turned into a thousand daggers, but I did my best to ignore it and keep running. Rikku needed my help, and we had about ten minutes left until Cid got here, if he was as fast as he said.

I saw her wheel around again, charging head first at the behemoths like she was a bullet. Again she shot underneath the legs of the nearest one, and what happened next caused me to run even faster and swear under my breath.

* * *

As I was about to shoot from underneath the behemoth, I turned around on the chocobo, stood up shakily, and jumped towards the behemoth. I caught his tail with one arm and wrapped my legs around it, and quickly climbed up to the top of it despite only having one arm to work with, the other holding my sword.

I think the behemoth noticed I was there, as it began to swing its tail around visciously trying to shake me off.

"Whoa, big fella!" I yelled, trying to get onto its back before I was thrown to the ground. I kind of got into a crouch and hopped upwards, bringing the sword down and stabbing into its back, which actually saved me from slipping.

The beast roared in pain as I hung on for dear life, the sword acting as a pylon in a Cliffside. I used both hands and hauled myself up into a crouch. I tugged a couple times and pulled the sword from the back of the creature. I fountain of red blood shot out of it, covering me in warmth.

"Oh that's just nasty, you meany!" I yelled at it, moving forward as fast as I could along its back, leaving steaming foot prints. So, so, so, so gross. I am gonna need at least five showers. At least five, maybe ten, to wash this out. I ignored how unbelievably gross I felt and came up to where its back met its neck.

I guess I never realized how big a behemoth was until you are riding one like a bucking chocobo, but they are absolutely HUGE! I tried to figure out what I should do next, I wish I had thought this plan out all the way. I mean it had worked, kind of. The behemoth I was on had completely ignored everything around it, trying its hardest to shake me off. I deflected several lightning bolts into the creatures hide, but that just seemed to make it more angry.

I decided to just stab it a bunch, because that's all I really could do. With each thrust of my sword I got a roar in return, as well as a bunch of shaking moves. If I hadn't been holding onto the handle of the sword for dear life, I would have been tossed off a long time ago. I stabbed again and again, but it didn't really seem to do anything besides cover me in more warm red sticky stuff and piss the behemoth off.

I thrust one last time, and it felt like I hit something, so I leaned into the sword with all my weight, and felt something give way, and the behemoth collapsed. I hit my chest on the hilt of the sword, knocking the wind out of me, and as I fell towards the collapsed behemoth I was gasping for air. I bounced off of the creatures back, and rolled downwards onto the ground, landing in the snow. It would have really, really hurt if that hadn't been there.

My breathing returned slowly as I looked to see that Auron had angered the other behemoth enough that it had turned around to meet a charging red bullet.

* * *

I saw the other behemoth collapse to the ground and felt a surge of pride as I ran towards the last remaining, roaring behemoth. I didn't know what she had done, but it had worked somehow. She never thought her plans all the way through, for as long as I had known her. I allowed myself to smile again as I charged the behemoth.

My side was screaming in agony, but there wasn't much I could do about it. We had a lot of time still to wait, and Rikku couldn't do this on her own. It attempted to gore me with its horns, but I ducked underneath them to swing hard up at its face, but I missed as well. My actions weren't nearly as fast as they usually were, and with each swing I could feel my side scream in protest.

The beast roared as it lowered its horns again and I went to deflect them in an attempt to make my swing connect. The horns collided much harder than I thought, and my right arm buckled. Instead of deflecting the collision, the behemoth ended up tossing me into the air. I landed on the ground ten feet away, struggling to get back up. I had done something besides just break ribs. My breathing was screwed up worse than before, and it hurt just to breath.

I saw Rikku running towards me, distinctly without a sword. I faced up the behemoth again, and raised my sword defensively just in time to deflect the horns again, and this time I had taken the full power of the horns. I wasn't so much tossed as I was thrown tens of feet into the air.

"AURON!" I heard Rikku yell, and then I hit the ground. I heard bones crunch, and as I tried to stand back up, I found my right arm dangling uselessly at my side, a bone noticeably visible in a place it shouldn't be.

My vision was swimming in front of me, but I steeled my determination, I couldn't afford to lose consciousness right now. I finally got to my knees and looked over at Rikku, still running in between me and the beast.

* * *

I saw Auron flying through the air as I ran, get back up, and get thrown much, much higher.

"AURON!" I yelled at the top of my lungs. Panic and fear were now primary emotions, rather than being thrilled and excited like I was before. We had run out of tricks, we got two of them, and even that was a feat. But the third one was going to tear us apart.

I kept running, determined to do something to pull the beast off of Auron and onto myself. He was badly hurt, he couldn't do anything here anymore. It was all up to me, mano y mano with the beast.

I saw the beast bear down on Auron and something broke inside of me, power coursed through me, and shimmering runes appeared beneath, above, and before me. I did the only thing that seemed right.

"Lumina!" I screamed, and time seemed to slow down. The runes flared to life, turning from a black to a vibrant red, and expanded. They rose into the sky, turning it red as a sunset. The entire area we were in seemed to be bathed in an unnatural light, almost like flames. I felt so much more powerful than I had only moments ago, and that's really the only way I could explain it. I no longer felt tired or worn, or panicked or fear. Determination and anger replaced all of those. I didn't even turn to look at Auron, it was like it didn't matter anymore.

I heard the call before I saw it, the shriek of a bird of prey, and then it came into view. An absolutely huge bird, bathed in what seemed to be flames descended down to where I was, floating off the ground with ease. The behemoth noticed it and roared in surprise.

"Go, Lumina!" I roared, my voice louder than I ever remember it being. I didn't care, though. The power I had, taking over who I was, didn't care. I was swimming in this new warmth, this new glow, and when I thought about before, it seemed so dull, so utterly… inconvenient.

* * *

I watched the runes appear and expand, the land become wreathed in a flame like light, and I saw the bird descend. I didn't know where it came from and what it was doing, but I looked at Rikku, and it seemed like she had… changed.

Maybe it was from the pain I was feeling, but she looked different. She stood tall, her back to me, never glancing back. She yelled something but I didn't understand it, but it sounded so much fuller than what she had been moments before. She was covered in something red, blood most likely I thought. It must be freezing to her in this kind of cold on the mountain, but she didn't seem to notice.

"Rikku!" I yelled and got no response, and when I tried to stand up again, I fell back down to my knees. My body had given out, it wasn't like when I was just pyreflies anymore, I had physical limitations again, and I had obviously run into the wall.

I scanned the skies, looking for the Celsius, but didn't see it. I looked back to Rikku and the large fiery bird in front of her locked in battle with the behemoth, watched for a little while, and looked back up.

I saw the Celsius coming in fast, descending from the clouds to where we were, and smiled. We had made it, I though as I fell backwards, no longer able to support my body or mind.

* * *

The behemoth was no match for the glowing bird, it was near death already. I had started walking towards it slowly, not noticing uneven ground or even the cold from the liquid slowly freezing onto to me, and freezing me along with it.

"Lumina, finish this rabble off," I said, the voice not even sounding like me. I don't think I would have said something like that, either.

The bird screeched in acknowledgement. It rose in the air, the redness of our surroundings bleeding back to white and black like it had been before. The bird seemed to glow brighter and brighter, and all at once it loosed the gathered energy.

A river of red energy moving faster than an eye could track flew from the bird to the behemoth, and one last roar came out of the behemoth before it simply… disappeared. The bird disappeared as well, leaving me alone. The power I had been swimming in before disappeared as well, and reality hit me like a ton of bricks.

I was absolutely freezing, my arms and legs, even my ears felt numb. I fell to my knees, trying to get back up but failing.

"Kel… Kelvin!" I choked out, the bird appearing from behind some rocks, approaching me apprehensively, like it didn't know who I was.

"Kelvin, help me!" I yelled again, and he trotted to me. With some effort, I climbed onto the bird, half sitting, half laying, and just kept saying the same thing over and over. "Go to Auron, Kelvin, to Auron. To Auron, to Auron."

I was mumbling, shivering, freezing in the cold and drained of all energy. Kelvin was tired too, I could tell even through my own suffering. We picked our way over to where Auron was laying on his back in the snow, unmoving.

"Auron!" I croaked, the chocobo letting me down next to him. "Auron wake up!" I yelled, pounding on his chest. He was breathing, but not responding or moving.

I was so frantic that I hadn't noticed the Celsius come in or land, or the team of people on hovers riding out quickly towards us. I was too cold, too worried about Auron, too tired to notice.

"Rikku, Rikku, are you okay?" a familiar voice I heard asked. I had closed my eyes for a second, and couldn't open them back up. I didn't really feel like it either, I was finally warming back up.

"Yeah, I'm okie dokie whoever you are. It's warm again, finally," I mumbled, trying to go back to sleep.

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**So there you have it, the mighty action chapter. I think it came out rather well, you can only do so much with words to describe this stuff. Let me know how it is. I already have two more chapters written, but proof reading won't happen today, I have a 16 hour workday starting in ten minutes. So R&R, and check back tomorrow :)**


	12. One Hell of a Day

**AN: Hello everybody, finally getting to update again. I don't have internet at my place at the moment, though i did just get a new full time job, so updates should be a bit more regular before the end of the month. Hope you enjoy this, it took a while to write, how exactly i want the story to proceed. And to plan out the surprises I have coming for all of you. Hope you enjoy it, and don't hesitate to read or review, or favorite, the emails make my day everyday I get them. Thanks**

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**Chapter 12: One Hell of a Day**

(AN: This is not Auron or Rikku. Just seemed better this way)

"Rikku, you have to wake up, come on!" I yelled, the teams of people behind me coming with stretchers and blankets.

I probed her wounds with magic, and immediately got rejected, like there was a force blocking me. I hadn't ever run into this, before. I switched over to Auron, and I could immediately tell he was hurt. The problem with the probing, is that I could feel a portion of what he was.

I immediately turned my head and retched into the snow, my head spinning and dizzy.

"Yuna! Are you okay?" a voice yelled, I turned and found Tidus holding me up from behind.

"Auron is almost dead, we don't have time to move him inside," I said quickly, grabbing my staff from where it lay in the snow. I twirled it around a few times, spells dancing off the end of the staff and into the unconscious man. He twitched a couple of times, and again I attempted to probe his injuries.

I must have nearly fallen, because Tidus was holding me up again, but I did not retch this time. He was better, not good, but better. He would live for now. I turned back to Rikku, and touched her arm.

"This is not good, Tidus. It's hypothermia, and its really, really bad. We need to warm her up," I said and he nodded. He grabbed a blanket off of a hover nearby, covered her before picking her up, and put her in the back of it.

"I'm going to bring her to Lulu, you stay here with Auron," Tidus said, speeding off in the hover. I nodded, looking back down on the strong man, and then out across the field.

The two of them, against improbable odds, had defeated three fully grown behemoths by themselves. I didn't understand how they had gotten the first two, but I would bet the Calm that the bird was an Aeon. How was another question.

* * *

The speeder was moving at top speed as I approached the Celsius, and I drove straight up the ramp into the docking bay before coming to an abrupt stop. I picked Rikku up and ran into the ship, straight towards Rikku's room. I spotted a crewmember and called out to him as I ran.

"You need to get Cid and Lulu to Rikku's room now!" I yelled and he jumped before taking off sprinting. I remembered when I got hypothermia when I was younger, in Zanarkand. Warming up the body was most important. Mine hadn't been nearly as bad as this was, though. It was like carrying an icicle. I ran through corridors carrying the blanketed Rikku, people jumping out of the way before I could say move. I got to Rikku's door and found it open with Lulu waiting.

"Oh my god," Lulu exclaimed as I set her down in her bed. Cid barreled into the room, throwing me out of it and shutting the door. I knew better than making him angry. I decided to run back out and help Yuna with Auron, if they still needed it.

* * *

"Rikku snap out of it!" a panicked, infuriated Cid yelled into Rikku's chest as he knelt next to her.

"Cid, move," I said quickly. I had already started warming the room quickly using magic, and was making it warmer by the second.

"Rikku!" he wailed, and I had lost my patience. I picked him up with a water spell, opened the door, and threw him out. I did not need him bothering me right now. If she got any colder her heart would stop, and there weren't enough potions in the world to prevent that.

I heated the room until I was sweating, and warmed it further. I channeled heat into her bed as I went to work stripping the clothes she was wearing off of her. She was mumbling as I did it, not making any sense to me.

"Auron…" she said weakly. "Get… the books. And Kelvin. We can't forget them, ya know? You are going to need them, forget… about me," she said, tears forming in her eyes.

"You aren't dead yet, girl," I growled. She wasn't warming up fast enough, she was delirious. I felt her skin, still freezing cold. I started stripping off my own clothes as fast as I could.

"It's okay Auron, I love you," she said, still mumbling to herself. I had finally removed my clothes, and yanked the blankets out from underneath her. I climbed into the bed, pulling the blankets over the two of us as I pulled her into my embrace. She was freezing, but between the heat I was constantly channeling into the bed and my own body heat she was slowly warming up.

I heard a knock at the door. "Lulu, its me," I heard Yuna say.

"Come in, lock the door behind you," I said quickly, and she did. She looked tired, to say the least. Without even asking, she stripped down and entered the bed with Rikku and I, the two of us hugging her between us.

"She's so cold. What is this stuff covering her?" Yuna muttered. I could tell she was trying to probe her for injuries while talking.

"Behemoth blood, I would think. I don't know how she was still awake when you found her," I said. I disliked blood of all kinds, but right now I didn't have a choice. A friend's life was far, far more important.

"Poor Rikku, warm up now," Yuna said quietly, petting her hair like a mother. Yuna was very motherly, even I considered her motherly, though she thought I was more mother than her.

"She is warming up, though. We can only hope, now," I said, and she nodded. It was all we could do.

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I helped lift Auron onto a stretcher, and then four of us lifted it into the back of a hover. We drove into the docking bay of the Celsius, and the four of us hauled him into an empty room not far off the bay, moving him into a bed.

"When the doctor comes by, here's the list of stuff High Summoner Yuna said was wrong," the young man said, and left the room. My eyes popped at the list.

"Crazy old man," I muttered, sitting in a chair. Yuna had said he was stable for now; all I could do now was wait for the doctor or her.

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"Auron?" a small, ragged voice said between Lulu and I.

"Hush now, Rikku. Just warm up," I said soothingly, continuing to run my hand through her hair. I remember Lulu doing that for me to get me to sleep as I woke up. I had so many questions for her, but I needed her to get back to normal first.

"Auron I'm sorry," she said, her voice sounding pained.

"It's not your fault, Rikku," Lulu said, hugging her tighter.

"She feels a lot warmer, now," I said, and Lulu nodded. She was close to normal body temperature, her skin did, anyways.

"I…" Rikku started to mumble, and then her body seemed to heave. She started shaking violently, tossing me out of the bed and Lulu against the wall. She screamed in pain, her body still convulsing.

"Lulu what is going on?" I asked. I didn't really know how to deal with hypothermia, and I was scared.

"A seizure, there isn't anything we can do but prevent her from hurting herself. We just have to wait it out," Lulu said, pinning her arms down above her. I grabbed her legs, tying them together with my arms. She continued to shake, twisting and pulling and pushing.

It finally seemed to be dying down after what felt like hours. Her throat started to making choking sounds, finally breathing after all of that thrashing. She kicked once more, throwing me to the ground again, and lay still.

"She will live," was all Lulu said before getting out of the bed. "She will feel awful when she wakes up, though. We have to watch her closely, something is going on that I do not understand."

"I cannot probe her injuries, there is something blocking me from doing so," I said quickly.

"This has happened before, Yuna, think. Isaaru and Dona, remember?" Lulu said and frowned. How they had explained it before was the Aeon's power prevented certain spell effects, the probing just happened to be one of them. So it was true, Rikku was a summoner.

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I turned to Yuna, the realization dawning on her face. I had figured as much when we were descending, that kind of magical power. I had only sensed it when with a summoner. As my senses were better attuned to the field of magic, it only made sense Yuna didn't know.

"Go and shower, and help Auron," I said sharply, and Yuna nodded. She donned her clothing once again, putting it on over the sticky red ooze that covered the three of us. She quickly left the room, and I saw Cid standing outside the door.

"She will live, Cid. Go and make sure we retrieved all of their things, I have more to do before I let you in here," I said coldly and he nodded. He may be an angry bear, but people do not ignore what I say, even angry bears.

I picked Rikku up and brought her to her shower. I cleaned us both off, it took a lot of time to scrub all of the blood off of Rikku and out of her hair, but it finally came out. The warm water would do her good, as well. I toweled her dry, putting her in her pajamas and laying her back in bed.

I quickly redressed myself before going to the door to let Cid in. When I opened the door he was no where to be seen, but I heard a roar of a man I assumed to be Auron. He was awake, at least. I turned back to Rikku to see her standing next to the bed.

"Rikku, what are…" was all I got out of my mouth before a spell had thrown me against the wall. She looked down on me as she strode past, I noted that her eyes were white. Not like rolled up into her head white, but the Al Bhed signature was gone, replaced by white.

I struggled to stand; I had been slammed harder than I thought. I stumbled after her, she wasn't moving as fast as one might think. Someone had to stop her, even I didn't understand what was going on.

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In the back of my mind I knew that it was wrong to move Lulu out of the way, but the back of my mind wasn't in control. I felt the power surging through my limbs again, that raw, indestructible power. It wasn't me. I walked slowly through the halls, amid the stares of people on the ship. They dropped what they were carrying to stare, nobody uttering a word.

Everybody who dared stand in my way was thrown aside, an unseen force moving them as I swept my arm. I dimly heard Lulu yelling for people to get out of the way, but it didn't matter. If they were in the way, they were moved by force.

"Move," was all I said, almost growling in a deep voice that didn't seem to belong to me. People jumped to obey, fear crossing their faces. Yes, fear is what they should do. Wait, what? Why should they fear me? I'm their friend!

My body stopped in the middle of the hallway as I fell to my knees, I heard Lulu come in behind me.

"What's going on with me?" I asked, my frantic voice actually my own, the power fighting to take over again.

"I don't know, Rikku. Fight whatever it is with all you have," Lulu said and tried to grab underneath my arms to pin them back.

"Wrong move," the deep voice said, throwing her ten feet back down the hallway. I looked back and could feel my face smirk before turning again and continuing down the way I was going. I felt the eyes on me, the raw fear radiating from every single one of them. I didn't want them to be afraid of me.

I heard again the roar, Auron's voice, echoing in the halls. I walked towards the noise, slowly, but unimpeded. I turned several times, and was outside his door. Looking in, Tidus, Yuna, Wakka, and Cid were all in the room, crowding around Auron.

I heard Lulu behind me. "Everybody get out!"

"What?" a couple of them asked, but I just smirked. Or felt my face smirk, anyways.

I felt the power, coursing through me, through each artery and vein, to each fingertip. With one swift motion of my hand, I picked them all up from where they were, pulled them from the room, and tossed them down the hallway like it was the easiest thing to do.

I walked into the room to find Auron awake in bed, wrapped in some bandages.

"Are you hurt, love?" I asked, but it wasn't my voice. The deep voice was still talking.

"What's going on, Rikku?" he asked as I felt the power rise again, but this time I fought against it, taking control of the power but not losing it.

I walked over and touched one finger to his chest. The power that had been welling up was still there, but it felt… different. Softer, warmer. The power pulsed from my finger into Auron, him gasping for air as the magic healed his wounds all in one go. The power disappeared after a little bit, and Auron was breathing heavily.

"Auron, didja know that I love you?" I asked quietly and he smiled a little bit anyways.

I turned around and saw a rather large crowd of people, including all the guardians onboard and Pops.

"Heh… sorry for worrying ya, everybody," I said, and fell to the floor out cold.

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"Rikku!" I growled, leaping out of bed wearing nothing but my boxers and bandages. Strangely, I did feel like nothing was wrong, like I had been completely healed. The others tried to get in, Cid at the forefront, but I just looked at them and scowled, which stopped them in their tracks.

"Get. Out." I said quietly, but I knew they heard me. I laid Rikku in the bed I had been laying in and turned around again. "I said GET OUT!" this time roaring at them sound loud the group jumped in unison. I stormed to the door, slammed it shut, and threw both dead bolts into place.

I didn't know what was going on, but she came here for me and returned to normal, so she would stay with me until we figured it out. I couldn't have her hurting anyone, herself included. I pulled the blanket out slowly from under her before laying it on top of her. I pulled the bandages off of myself, noticing the pink, healing tissue, but a lack of any wounds. Even Yuna had only been able to do so much, and Rikku did it in a heartbeat.

It was entirely my fault, I knew that. I had subjected her to this, if I hadn't brought her along it wouldn't have been a problem. I had a lot of questions and no answers, but right now I only desired one thing. I climbed into the bed, pulling Rikku into me before closing my eyes and allowing myself one last thought.

It had been one hell of a day.

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**Well, there it is folks. Hope you enjoyed, I have the next chapter written already, but when I post is the question just because of how complicated the story might get, if I want it to. But have a great Halloween weekend everyone!**

**TFT**


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